Eagles hit the dance floor with a six-seed in NCAA Tournament

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Posted: Nov 07, 2016

INDIANAPOLIS – The South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament champion Carson-Newman women's soccer team was given the sixth-seed in the Southeast region in the NCAA Soccer Championships, the bracket for which was announced this evening.

"We're excited to be in the tournament," coach Richard Moodie said. "You've just got to be in it. We're proud to be one of the six in the region."

"It's very exciting for all of us," senior defender Elissa Lane (Knoxville, Tenn.) said, "having this opportunity again. We've all worked hard for it."

The Eagles will face the third-seeded Limestone Saints in their first round match on Friday at 2 p.m. The winner of that match will play second-seeded North Georgia, who will serve as the host school for both contests.

"It's going to be a good competition," Moodie said. "Limestone and Carson-Newman, two good teams, two good offenses, I think it's going to be a great match, but this is an exciting part of the season. You want to play the best teams. Now we get the opportunity to see if we can't compete against some of the top teams."

This is Carson-Newman second consecutive season appearing in the NCAA Tournament. They earned a No. 1 seed last season and reached the Sweet 16 before bowing out to Columbus State. This also marks the program's ninth tournament berth overall.

"It's a very big advantage for us, being in the tournament last year," Lane said. "We learned a lot and we know what to expect."

The Eagles earned an automatic bid to the tourney on Sunday, when they defeated Wingate, 2-1, in the SAC Tournament title game, their second straight conference title. The victory was also the team's fifth straight, matching their longest win streak this season.

Limestone enters the tournament with a record of 18-1 and ranked 14^th in the country. They've won 17 straight games since a 2-1 loss to Queens (N.C.) on September 7^th. The Saints concluded their conference schedule by knocking off Belmont Abbey 2-1 in the Conference Carolinas title game for their second straight conference championship and are making their second tourney appearance in-a-row.

North Georgia earned an at-large bid and the second-seed despite finishing their season with a loss to Columbus State in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship match. Ranked at No. 17 nationally, the Nighthawks have a record of 14-2-3 and had gone unbeaten for 13 consecutive contests prior to their defeat on Sunday.

All-time, C-N has a record of 11-8 in the NCAA Tournament. That record includes a 3-0 win over Armstrong St. in the second round last year that represented the school's first tournament victory since 2009. The Eagles have made three trips to the Elite Eight and advanced to the Final Four in 2004 and 2005.

The NCAA announced the tournament field of 48 teams on Monday night. Games will begin on Thursday and finish up with the title game on Dec. 3^rd at Swope Park in Kansas City, Mo.

-CN-