HARROGATE, Tenn. - Despite allowing a late goal, Carson-Newman (5-4-2, 4-3-1) used early offense to get past Lincoln Memorial (7-4-2, 3-2-2) Wednesday afternoon at the LMU Soccer Complex.
"Delighted with the performance overall," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "It would have been nice to get that third goal because the last ten minutes we were under some pressure when they got within one. That was an important three points in league play."
The win moves Carson-Newman up to fourth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings, jumping LMU and Wingate.
The victory gives C-N its third road win of the season, a mark that has been completed every year under Simon Duffy with the exception of the covid-shortened 2020 season. The Eagles are now 29-12-6 playing away from McCown Field under Duffy.
Stellar passing led to C-N scoring in the opening minutes. Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechtenstein) dribbled her way to the nearside corner and booted a cross toward the six-yard box where Krista Nielsen (Saudarkrokur, Iceland) fired a left-footed shot into the back of the net to lift the Eagles ahead 1-0. Nielsen's goal was her second this season and it was Frick's fifth assist of the year.
Carson-Newman is now 4-0 when scoring first and 44-3-5 under Duffy when doing so. The Eagles are also 4-0-1 when scoring a goal in the opening half this year.
Lincoln Memorial got its first chances in the 18th minute. Emma Snider sent a shot toward the bottom right of goal but Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands) made a diving stop. The freshman made yet another save less than 40 seconds later to keep the Railsplitters off the board. Her 3rd save of in as many minutes came on a Ryan Branson shot straight at goal.
Following that last shot attempt, C-N went back to work offensively and drew a free kick just beyond midfield. Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) delivered a ball into the box that was not cleared and was mishandled by the LMU keeper Bente Latenstein, allowing Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland) to knock home her second goal of the season to increase the advantage to 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
Neither team fired a shot in the final 20 minutes of the first half. Despite trailing, LMU outshot C-N in the first 45 minutes, 5-4 but shot on goal were even.
The Eagles recorded the first four shots of the second half. Of the four shots in the first five minutes, only Alba Delgado's found the target, forcing a Latenstein save.
It took nearly 25 minutes for LMU to attempt a second half shot. It came from Carla Wilson but Kabakci made a routine save on the shot toward the center of goal. Off a free kick in the 74th minute, Corrine Denton found space in the box and sent a shot toward goal that forced Kabakci to make a diving stop to her right.
Karli Pettitt (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) had a chance to add another insurance goal as she sent a shot toward the bottom left corner of goal forcing another Latenstein save in the 82nd minute.
LMU broke through to cut the deficit in half with five minutes to go. Lexi Bearden scored on a shot from outside the box to make it 2-1.
The Railsplitters managed just one more shot after the goal and it missed the target.
Kabakci finished the match with a game-high five saves to record her second win of the season.
Eight different Eagles recorded a shot, with Nielsen and Delgado each recorded two. The two clubs each had ten shots, but C-N managed six corner kicks and did not allow LMU to secure a corner in the match.
Carson-Newman now begins a five-game home stand to end the regular season, starting with #2 Catawba on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
