JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Top-seeded and second-ranked Carson will host a rematch of the 2015 Southeast Region Final when second-seeded and 10th-ranked Columbus State visits Mossy Creek on Friday for the second time in three years. Kick-off from McCown Field on Nov. 17 is slated for 7 p.m.
The 4-1 loss for the Eagles ended their season at 19-3, while the Cougars collected two more wins and moved on to the National Championship two weeks later. They followed up with a Final Four appearance in 2016.
C-N still has five players on its roster from that season plus their assistant coach Julianne Herrity. While neither Eagle scored throughout the evening, current junior Olivia Jarrell and senior Cassandra Wade tallied three of the four goals in the win.
The Eagles (18-0-1) have faced the Cougars five times in the history of the program, all of which have come in the NCAA tournament. Columbus State (16-3) holds a 3-2 advantage since the team's first met in 2006. Four of those five matchups have taken place at Mossy Creek.
"It should be a very good match and I think we generally do well against teams who open up a little more as it was shown in the South Atlantic Conference final against Wingate," Coach Simon Duffy stated.
Columbus State dropped out of the No. 1 spot in the region after they fell to UNC Pembroke 1-0 in the Peach Belt Conference title game despite outshooting the Braves 25-4. A Christine Rolfes penalty kick in the 20th minute was the deciding factor.
Columbus State's trip to the NCAA Championships marked their 12th in a row. They are 19-7-4 all-time in tournament play.
The Cougars have arrived to their fourth-consecutive region final after defeating third-seeded Flagler in the region semifinal 3-0. It was the third time this season that the Cougars knocked off the Saints.
C-N is 5-4 all-time when facing PBC opponents in the NCAA tournament. They are 2-3 all-time in region final games with three of those five matchups versus the Cougars.
The last region final win for the Eagles came in Jefferson City in 2009 as C-N was also the No. 1 seed defeating No. 2 seed Columbus State 3-2 on a last minute goal from Melissa Morris. The team eventually fell to West Florida in the NCAA Quarterfinals 2-1.
With a home record of 26-2-1 in the past three seasons, the last loss at home for a Carson-Newman team came at the hands of the Cougars in that 2015 NCAA tourney match. Since that loss, the Eagles have outscored its opponents 53-9.
While the Eagles boast the fourth-best scoring offense in the nation, the Cougars currently have the most potent attack in all of Division II averaging 12.11 points per game.
The Cougars are led by Olivia Jarrell who is third in the nation in total points with 44, sitting even with the Eagles' Lauren Wade. Jarrell joins five of her teammates on Southeast first-team All-Region, with two others claiming second-team honors.
Between the Eagles and the Cougars, 11 of the 26 players named to all-region on Wednesday will be on the same field tomorrow night.
Jackie Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland), Helen Seed (Preston, England), Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) and Averi Williams (Powell, Tenn.) collected all-region honors for C-N.
"We know at this stage of the season, we'll get punished after our mistakes," Duffy mentioned. "We know at the end of the day we'll need capitalize on ones they make. So we'll have to come out and do what we do best and do the little things right."
Jay Entlich is at the helm for his 14th season, accumulating a record of 241-54-22. He is the winningest coach in PBC history collecting the regular season title 10 times and the league title seven times.
Carson-Newman collected a 2-0 win over Queens (N.C.) in the region semifinal on Nov. 12 collecting two goals from junior forward Magda Mosengo.
Burns registered her ninth solo clean sheet of the season. She split three shutouts during the regular season with Jasmine Rizk.
As a sophomore, Burns is the program leader in wins with 35 and sits just behind career shutouts leader Christine Furman who collected 23.6 from 1996-99. A goalkeeper gets .1 added to their total every time they earn a combined shutout. Burns currently sits at 23.3.
The 2017 Southeast Regional Women's Soccer Championship is hosted by Carson-Newman University. You can visit our Tournament Central page for all information and updates from the semifinal matches last weekend, and all three games for this weekend.
In the South Region Final match, third-seeded Lee University (17-4-1) will face fifth-seeded West Florida (17-4-1) at 4 p.m. from Jefferson City. The winners of each game will face off in the South/Southeast Region Final on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2:00 p.m.
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