JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a tale of two halves, Carson-Newman (6-6-3, 4-4-2) saw its two goal lead squander away, as Limestone (3-9-2, 2-6-2) battled back to tie the Eagles Saturday night at McCown Field.
"Just disappointing to do what we did in the first half and then come out the complete opposite in the second half," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "In fairness to Limestone, they deserved it with that second half performance alone. No issues with the result, but we have enough quality to get that job done."
On the game's first shot and just Carson-Newman's second corner kick of the match, Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechtenstein) sent a perfect ball toward the back post that was headed into the back of the net by Alba Delgado (Oviedo, Spain.) for her fourth goal of the year to put C-N up 1-0 in the 18th minute. Frick recorded her team-high sixth assist of the season. The Eagles scored first for the seventh time this year.
"It was a great corner," Delgado said. "I was on the back post and Philly (Felicia Frick) put the ball in and luckily there was no one defending me."
The Eagles struck again ten minutes later. Limestone goalkeeper Rosemary Elliot was outside her six-yard box and had her pass intercepted by Cameron Giles (Chattanooga, Tenn.) who took one touch and hooked a shot inside the right post for her third goal of the year to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the 28th minute.
Carson-Newman played a very sharp and efficient first half of soccer. Duffy's team was efficient by having four of their seven shots go on goal. On top of that offensive efficiency, C-N's defense was stout and held Limestone shotless in the opening half of play. That's the first time the Eagles have not allowed a shot in a half this season. It was just the fifth time all year that Carson-Newman held a halftime advantage.
The second half belonged to the Saints. Carson-Newman's Addie Henry took the first shot of the half that Elliot saved. Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands) made a pair of saves to keep the Saints off the board in the 51st minute and 53rd minutes.
The Saints got within a goal when Emily Torrez sent a ball toward Lucie Bertrand who put the ball away to trim the deficit to 2-1 in the 61st minute.
C-N continued to search for an insurance goal, but the Saints defense made another stop in the 64th minute off a Savannah Fields header. Limestone's next chance came in the 73rd minute when Alecia Simmons shot a ball at Kabakci that she controlled to keep the Eagles ahead.
The game's final shot on goal went in the back of the net for the Saints. The ball was bobbled around in the box and Servane Blouin took advantage of the opportunity and shot a ball in the left side of goal to tie the match with less than eight minutes to go.
The Eagles managed two shots after allowing the game-tying goal. Carson-Newman outshot Limestone 14-8 and 7-5 on goal.
It's just the third time that C-N has tied a match when leading at the half under Duffy. The Eagles are now 64-2-4 when scoring two goals or more in a game under Duffy.
Carson-Newman's Kabakci made three saves, while Limestone's Elliot made five.
C-N wraps up the regular season on Wednesday night with a home match against Tusculum at 7:30 p.m.
