JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman will honor a trio of seniors Saturday night when the Eagles host Limestone for a 5:30 p.m. start from McCown Field.
"Just incredible players," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "There's players that you can rely on, and they are those type of players. We can push them in training and demand a lot from them, but the expectations they've had for themselves are just immense. Everything that they've done and been part of has been incredible, and they've earned the respect of their teammates for it. I've been so lucky to coach them and blessed to have them on the team."
The Eagles will honor Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.), MJ Park (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Abbie Zander (Baneberry, Tenn.) in a postgame ceremony, for a trio that has amassed 20 career goals and 24 career assists over a combined 146 career appearances. The postgame ceremony will take place at halftime of the men's game.
Carson-Newman is aiming to bounce back after suffering its sixth loss of the season on Monday to Columbus State. The Eagles still have lots at stake as we wind down the regular season. With a South Atlantic Conference basically secured, it comes down to seeding. Currently sitting in fifth place, C-N must win its final two games and hope that Anderson only secures one point from its next two opponents in order to host a SAC quarterfinal match. Along with SAC seeding, NCAA tournament hopes will be at stake as well, with the Eagles one of ten teams under consideration in the first round of region rankings.
The recipe for success this season and throughout Duffy's tenure and has been scoring first and often. C-N is 5-1 this year when scoring the game's first goal. It's unbeaten when scoring multiple goals and is 64-2-3 under Duffy all-time when achieving this mark.
After losing the first ever meeting to Limestone back in 2012, Carson-Newman has taken control of this series and has won five in a row. While only scoring seven goals during this winning streak, the defense has been the reason for the success by only allowing one Limestone goal. The Eagles were outshot in last year's meeting but was efficient by shooting five of their eight shots on goal, one of which found the back of the net in the 70th minute.
Similar to Carson-Newman, Limestone still has plenty to play for this season. With just two conference games to play, Limestone sits in a tie for ninth place, just one point from being tied in the top 8 to qualify for the conference tournament. The Saints are one point away from eighth place Tusculum and two points away from Mars Hill, who they play in the regular season finale.
"Records mean nothing this late in the year," Duffy said. "I've watched them on video and they are a very tough team. They are aggressive and move the ball really well and have really good individual players. It's going to be a tough one for us. I'm glad we are at home , but if we play anyway like we did against Columbus State, I think that's what it will take to get the win."
After recording its second conference win of the year against Coker on Oct 14, the Saints enter this match losers of two of their last three, with one tie to Lincoln Memorial sandwiched between the losses.
Limestone's struggles have been because of the offense, which has produced the second lowest goal output in the SAC. The Saints have been shutout in three straight matches and a total of seven times this season.
Preseason All-SAC first team goalkeeper Samantha Aguilar-Hopkins has the fifth most saves in the league this year, along with a pair of shutouts. Lucie Bertrand has a team-high three goals, two of which have come during SAC play.
Kick off from McCown Field is set for 5:30 p.m. 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.
