JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's soccer will see their final non-conference match of 2021 take place when the Shaw Bears come to town for a Wednesday matinee. The Eagles (4-3-2, 3-2 SAC) and the Bears (3-6) will square off for the first time ever in program history as the two see a 2:00 p.m. first kick from McCown Field Wednesday.
The Eagles will come back home after suffering their first road SAC loss of the season to the Queens (N.C.) Royals last Saturday from Dickinson Field in Charlotte. The Royals, now sitting atop the SAC standings with 15 points, moved to a perfect 5-0 in conference play while Carson-Newman saw its second SAC loss when playing on a Saturday.
In the match, it was the Royals seeing their leading scorer, Mia Manuel, making the difference as she netted the game-winner in the 28th minute to give Queens the 1-0 victory. Over the last three SAC matches, Carson-Newman has been outscored 9-2 with their lone win over the span coming against their rivals from Greeneville, the Tusculum Pioneers last Wednesday.
"Disappointed in the result against Queens, but we cannot always expect to always come out on top when we only compete for 45 minutes," head coach Simon Duffy said. "We were a different team in the second half and created three of the best chances of the match but could not find an equalizer."
So far in 2021, Carson-Newman has seen freshman Nellie Bryneus (Halmstad, Sweden) lead the way in terms of points (8), shots (26), goals (3), and shots on goal (14). Bryneus is also in a three-way tie with freshman Alisha Heiniger (Duerrenroth, Switzerland) and senior Jente Kuper (Ottersberg, Germany) for the team lead in assists as each has made two assists individually.
Turning the page to the Bears, this will be the first-ever meeting between the programs but there are some familiar faces returning to Mossy Creek for Shaw when Wednesday gets kicked off. First, the Eagles will see former Eagle defender, Sydney Bailey, returning to the pitch of McCown Field. In her two years as an Eagle, Bailey appeared in eight matches as part of the 2018 and 2019 Eagle programs.
"Even though we're stepping outside of conference, we need to view them as a conference opponent and prepare the same way. We're looking for a full 90 minutes of performance," Duffy said. "This is another battle for us. We're nowhere near our goal and we need to continue getting better back to front. Shaw will prove for us to be a good test and hopefully we'll be able to rotate some players into some spots."
Meanwhile, Carson-Newman will also see a familiar face on the Shaw bench in the head coach of the Bears, Randy McClure. McClure was an assistant coach for the Catawba Indians prior to taking over at Shaw. During his time at Catawba in 2018-19, the Indians finished that season 13-6 overall and went 6-4 in conference play as they made it to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional where they would suffer a 3-0 loss to the Eagles.
McClure enters his second season as the head men's and women's soccer coach at Shaw University. McClure took over the reins of both programs on the heel of the Bears and Lady Bears season opener for the 2019 slates. During his first season at the helm, the Lady Bears women's soccer team finished 7-9 overall and 3-3 mark at home.
McClure comes to Shaw after serving as an assistant coach for the women's soccer program at Catawba. Additionally, he served as the head coach for the developmental team. Prior to Catawba, McClure served as the Director of Coaching & Player Development at Port St. John United Soccer Club (FL). Previously, McClure served as assistant women's soccer coach at Pfeiffer University from 2015-2016.
In a season like no other for the Bears, Wednesday will mark the ninth overall road matchup for the program as they only have one home match scheduled for the entire 2021 season. In their lone home match of the season last Saturday, the Bears were able to handle the Bluefield State Big Blue as they won 2-0 on Senior Day.
So far in 2021, the Bears have seen a 3-6 record overall including road wins over South Carolina State on September 8 and King (Tenn.) on September 25. Of their previous eight road matches, one has come against a fellow SAC member, the Wingate Bulldogs, on September 11 from Wingate. In that match, the Bears were defeated 1-0 thanks to a 66th minute goal from Yasmin Cowley.
Through their nine matches thus far, Shaw has seen a quintet of athletes netting a goal, as no Bears player has more than one goal this season. Of the five Bears which have scored, senior Lauren Tonkin has been the most accurate shot-taker (min. five attempts) for the Bears as six out of her 11 total attempts have been on goal for a SOG percentage of .545.
In goal, the Bears have seen junior Maude Rouanet be the one called upon for majority of Bears matches. In her last recorded appearance on September 29 against Barton, Rouanet made five saves on 17 total Bulldogs attempts as Barton was able to squeak out the 1-0 victory.
In their program history, Shaw has gone 3-12 all-time against SAC schools including their 1-0 loss to Wingate earlier this season. In those 15 matches, Shaw has faced both Coker and Newberry three times apiece, going 2-4 all-time against the Cobras and Wolves. The Bears last defeated a SAC member during the 2019 season when they went to Mars Hill and left as 4-1 victors over the Lions. Overall against SAC schools, Shaw has been outscored 41-15.
"Playing at home has always given us a lift. I'm hoping the home field advantage plays in our favor. Regardless of home or away, we need to make sure we get into good habits of having the girls come out and compete for us," Duffy said. "If we are deserving to win, hopefully we can perform well and look back to say that we deserve those results. Hopefully McCown Field is good to us on Wednesday and the girls come out ready to play and get the win."
Carson-Newman and the Bears square off to wrap-up non-conference action for the Eagles as the two kick off in a Wednesday matinee from McCown Field at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Fans can watch the action via the Eagles Sports Network at cneagles.com/live and follow live in-game updates via Twitter from @CN_Eagles.
