VIDEO: Richard Moodie Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – After taking out Catawba in the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Tuesday, the second-seeded and SAC regular season champion Carson-Newman women's soccer team will face the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans in the semifinals in Rock Hill, S.C. on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
"[Our team] feels like they are in it to win it," coach Richard Moodie said. "I'd be lying if I said they were just going to make up numbers. I think they've got the mindset of champions. They grow and develop in practice every day. They're happy for the opportunity and I think it's one of the best teams I've ever coached. It's fun to watch them play, it's fun to watch them in practice. If you're a supporter in the crowd, I think it's fun to watch us. We've had some poor performances this year, but I think we've had way more good performances. For us it's about being consistent, one day at a time and try and see if we can't pick up two wins this week."
The Eagles, who have a record of 14-3-1 with a mark of 8-2-1 in league play, are attempting to reach the SAC final for the second consecutive season. Last year, they took home the prize by knocking off Lincoln Memorial, Anderson and Wingate. C-N's first victory in this edition of the SAC tournament came on Tuesday night, when they shutout Catawba 2-0, getting goals from Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) and Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland). The match was scoreless through one half before Wade broke the ice in the 75th minute and Ragney added insurance with her first career goal in the 82nd. This also marked the team's third consecutive win, the third time in 2016 they've strung together at least that many victories.
Anderson will be looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat they suffered at Carson-Newman's hands in the semifinals a year ago. The one score came from Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) in the 81st minute and sent the Trojans down to a defeat that ended their season. This year, coach Julie Davis Carlson's troops finished the regular at 9-5-2 overall and 6-4-1 in the SAC, good enough for the tourney's sixth seed. They reached the semis by traveling to Tusculum on Tuesday and beating the Pioneers 4-2 in penalties. They will also enter Friday having won three straight for the third time in the current season.
"We'll see what Anderson have up their sleeve," Moodie said, "and I think too many times, you can get focused on the opposition and I don't think that's what we're about. We maybe lost a few games this year by focusing too much on the opposition and not ourself. At this point in the season, it's all about us moving forward."
Offensively, the Trojans are tied for the sixth-most goals in the SAC with 26, averaging 1.63 per game. They average the league's seventh most shots, tallying 15 per game. The leader of their offense is graduate student Tina Shakes, who leads the squad with 10 goals and 24 points, both which are good enough for fifth in the SAC. Against North Greenville on Sept. 7th, Shakes scored all four of her team's goals in a 4-0 triumph. She was also recently selected to the All-SAC first team, the only Trojan to make the conference's top squad. Midfielder Alaina Gay earned All-SAC honorable mention with five goals and two assists in 16 games and was joined by defender Sophie Riggs and goalie Abby Helm.
Wade continued her already fantastic season on Tuesday, picking up an assist to go with a goal that proved to the game-winner. She now has a SAC-best 19 goals and 47 points and is tied the conference lead in assists with nine. That goal total is the sixth-most in a season in program history, while she's also piled up the eighth most points. On Wednesday, she was recognized as the SAC Player of the Year, the second consecutive season a Carson-Newman player has won the award. Herrity, who earned the honor in 2015, hasn't exactly had a down year. The 16 goals she's scored match the total that she put up in 2016 and are second only to Wade in the SAC. She's also second in the conference in points with 39. Both Wade and Herrity were All-SAC first team selections, along with midfielder Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway). Forward Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England), who's tied with Wade for the league lead in assists, midfielder Chelsea Jordan (Knoxville, Tenn.), fullback Helen Seed (Preston, England) and goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland) were chosen for the second team and midfielder Heida Ragney (Akuryri, Iceland) and defenders Elissa Lane (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Averi Williams (Powell, Tenn.) garnered honorable mention.
Burns earned her All-SAC selection with a season that's seen her break the school record and tie the SAC record for shutouts in a season with 12. The freshman has not allowed a goal in her last four starts. She also tops the SAC with a goals-against average of 0.49, ranks second with a save percentage of .845 and has allowed the second-fewest goals with nine. Burns has only conceded more than one goal in a game twice this year.
Helm has not had a bad season in net for the Trojans, as she's given up the fifth fewest goals in the SAC with 13 and has the fifth best save percentage at .822. The clean sheet she picked up against Tusculum on Tuesday was her seventh of the season, which places her third in the league. No shots have gotten by her in Anderson's last two matches. She has the SAC's sixth best goals-against average at 0.97 and the ninth most saves with 60.
When these teams meet on Friday, it will be for the second time this season. The Eagles hosted the first match on Oct. 1st and won 1-0 in overtime with Alex Brandan (Knoxville, Tenn.) providing the game-winner. That victory evened the all-time series between these programs at seven wins apiece. This will also be the second consecutive year Anderson and Carson-Newman will play twice. They split their contests last season, with the Trojans winning in the regular season and Eagles taking the battle in the SAC Tournament.
Live stats for this match will be available on cneagles.com/live and an in-depth recap of the event will be posted on cneagles.com.
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