HICKORY, N.C.- Carson-Newman women's soccer (8-3-2, 6-2) suffered its first loss in 28 days, as Lenoir-Rhyne (7-2-3, 6-0-2) scored a late goal to win 2-1.
Both conferences losses have now come on the road and by a final score of 2-1. The loss ends C-N's seven match winning streak.
"It's a very cruel game," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "I thought we defentiely deserved something from the game. In the first half, we were out played and didn't really compete against LR. The second half, we came out and we were by far the better team and controlled the entire second half. Unfortunately, we concede with five minutes to go."
Lenoir-Rhyne's Elin Hansson started the scoring in the 8th minute, as Ria Acton delivered a free kick that Hansson headed home to put the Bears ahead early. It was Hansson's seventh goal of the season.
Carson-Newman struggled to find offensive chances in the first half. The Eagles only managed one shot and it came at the halftime buzzer from graduate student Elena Propst. C-N was outshot 9-1 in the first 45:00 minutes.
The second half was a different story for the Eagles offense and that was evident early. In the 49th minute, senior Addie Henry fired a pass to the right side of the box where junior Carina Wust took one touch and shot a ball into the bottom left corner of goal to level the match at 1. The goal was her third of the season. She has now scored in back-to-back matches.
C-N kept applying pressure as junior MJ Park sent a shot on target, but LR's S.A. Phillips was there to make the save.
C-N freshman goalkeeper Laura Germes was tested in the 62nd minute. She made two saves, the first off, a long range shot and the other off a header less than 30 seconds later.
The Eagles took the next five shots, all coming in a three-minute stretch. None of the shots were on goal.
Germes made another stop in the 84th minute off a shot from Louise Berg. Two minutes later, LR capitalized on an opportunity. Kate Casey knocked home a shot, after the ball rebounded off the corner kick and was deflected outside the six-yard box. Casey had space and gave the Bears the lead and the win.
C-N outshot LR 10-7 in the second half. Felicia Frick and Propst tied for the team lead in shots with three each. Four other Eagles recorded a shot in the contest.
Germes finished the game with a season and career-high six saves in the match.
Carson-Newman returns to the pitch on Wednesday for its final regular season home match. Lincoln Memorial comes to town for a 5 p.m. kick off.
