JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – On a warm and sunny Saturday evening in Mossy Creek, Carson-Newman (1-1) was unable to break Lee (1-0-1) defensively, falling by a final score of 3-0 at McCown field.
"Hats off to them, they were excellent," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "Shape wise, personnel wise and they were very well coached and we were well-aware of that. We needed to be at our best and unfortunately we weren't. I don't know if that is my fault for not having our players phyiscally, technically and tactically ready for the game, it was a quick turnaround but no excuse. I know what we're capable of. For us, we can be a whole lot better in every department."
Lee applied plenty of offensive pressure early on the Eagles defense. The Flames had back-to-back shots blocked in the first couple of minutes.
Former Eagle Sydnee Duncan fired the game's first shot on target that was saved by Danielle Lacy (Rochester, Ill.).
The Flames got on the board thanks to a good ball forward from Grace Berry, that found the foot of Ellie Crisler who booted a shot into the upper left corner of goal to put Lee ahead 1-0.
C-N's first shot on target came on a free kick taken by Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) forcing a Flames save. The Eagles managed two more shots in the opening half, but none of which were on frame.
Lee played add on in the second half. Nora Burton lifted a ball into the box that was controlled by Alaysia Nye, who scored to increase the Flames lead in the 56th minute.
14 minutes later, Lee got a second goal of insurance. Crisler scored her second goal on a shot that just squeezed into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Carson-Newman managed just one shot in the second half, a shot from Anita Arnadottir (Alfantes, Iceland) that was blocked. C-N's five shots were the least number of shots attempted since last season's matchup aganist Catabwa on October 15th.
Dating back to the end of 2022, C-N has now allowed three goals in three straight games.
Lacy made two saves of the five shots sent on target.
Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) was the only Eagle to record multiple shots. Three other Eagles combined for the other three shots.
Carson-Newman hits the road for the first time in 2023 when it heads to Young Harris on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup.
