JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Winning a fifth straight contest against Carson-Newman (4-4-2, 3-3-1), #22 Lenoir-Rhyne (9-0-3, 7-0) used a trio of goals to win Saturday night's match at McCown Field.
"It's a tough one because I feel like that's the best futbol we've played all year," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "You look at the score line and it doesn't say that, but that's not be being dishonest with the players just to keep them motivated. We played really well and I think we deserve something from the game in a weird way, but we have to have more chances on goal to test her. They're a really quality team and do really well together, but I thought we held our own. Again, as strange as it sounds we lose 3-nil but there's a lot of positives we can take from today."
LR struck first in the 17th minute on its first shot on goal. Elin Hansson got around a C-N defender and shot a ball in the lower left corner of goal to put the Bears up 1-0.
The Eagles had a chance to answer quickly, on what would turn out to be C-N's only shot in the game. Four minutes after the goal, Alba Delgado (Oviedo, Spain) headed a ball toward goal that forced a Kristin Oliver save.
The Bears took advantage of another counterattack opportunity. Hansson tracked a through ball down and sent a ground pass toward the center of the box where Louise Berg delivered a strike into the back of the net to increase the lead to 2-0 in the 30th minute.
In a first half with limited chances, Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Carson-Newman 4-1 and 3-1 on goal.
The Bears got more chances early in the second half and took advantage. Hansson flicked a ball into the air, where Ria Acton touched it off to Neve Duston who buried a shot in the bottom left corner to extend the lead in the 59th minute.
Lenoir-Rhyne fired one more shot two minutes after the goal, but Hansson missed wide right. The two teams went the final 30:54 without attempting a shot. Both offenses had opportunities near net, but the defenses did not allow shots to be fired.
Lenoir-Rhyne finished the game with a 7-1 shots advantage and 5-1 on goal. The shot total for Carson-Newman is the lowest its had under Duffy and least number of shots in a match since it managed just two in a 1-1 tie with #9 Catawba last season.
Both teams recorded more fouls than total shots in the match. The only corner kick belonged to LR, it came in the second half.
Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands) finished the game with two saves.
Hansson finished the match with a goal and a assist to lead the Bears.
C-N returns to action on Wednesday afternoon with a conference match at Lincoln Memorial, starting at 1:00 p.m.
