JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-2-1, 0-1) eyes its first South Atlantic Conference win of the season when it faces off against Wingate (3-0-1) tomorrow afternoon.
"It's going to be a challenge for the girls," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "If you remember last year we started conference play with a loss, and then beat two unbeaten teams. That's the message to the players, we've got to get off the mark here in conference play. It is a great league that is getting stronger and stronger. We want to be in the mix come November and that starts now."
The match will be C-N's second road game of the season. It tied Young Harris on the road 3-3 earlier this season.
Under Duffy, Carson-Newman has never started its conference season with two losses.
Carson-Newman has not lost back-to-back matches since the beginning of the 2018 season. The Eagles have been able to regroup after a loss on 14 consecutive occasions.
C-N has scored eight goals this season. The Eagles have the third-best scoring offense in the league. Seven different players have scored a goal for Carson-Newman this season. Four of those seven players scored their first career goal. Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechenstein) leads the way with two goals scored this season and Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) leads the team with two assists.
The Eagles and the Bulldogs met twice last season, both matches were in Mossy Creek. C-N won the regular season matchup on September 17, 3-1. Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland) scored in the 21st minute to put the Eagles ahead early. Sydnee Duncan scored twice in the 43rd and 68th respectively. Chandler Hendrix scored shortly after, but that would be the lone Bulldogs goal.
Both clubs were then matched up in the SAC quarterfinals at the end of October. Wingate struck early with a 3rd minutes goal from Sophia Husted. C-N's Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) answered just nine minutes later to level the match in the opening half. The second half was dominated by Wingate, as Brianna Ditillo and Caroline Peters each scored goals in a six minute stretch to push Wingate on to the SAC semifinals, ending C-N's season.
Wingate is unbeaten in 2023, recording three wins and one tie early this season. All three wins have come by a final score of 2-0, over Lees-McRae, Belmont Abbey and Barton. The lone tie was on the road against Mount Olive 1-1.
It's a Bulldog bunch coming off a NCAA tournament appearance a year ago, falling to Catawba in the Southeast regional 2-0. Wingate made a run to get there through the SAC tournament, knocking off Carson-Newman and Catawba, before falling to Limestone in the championship game.
Wingate was picked to finish third in the league, one spot ahead of C-N. Returning for the Bulldogs this year are first team all-conference picks Caroline Peters and Sascha Larsen, second team picks Brianna Ditillo and Nicole Cristy and goalkeeper Katrine Thisgaard.
Larsen has three goals on just four shots this year to lead the way. Peters and Christy also have a goal this year, with Julia Boaventura and Angela Maino also scoring for the Bulldogs.
Thisgaard has been excellent in goal, with three clean sheets and ten saves through four matches.
Kick off is set for 1:00 p.m. from the Wingate Soccer Complex.
The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription. Fans can also follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
