Carson-Newman Women’s Soccer Position Previews: Forwards

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Posted: Aug 16, 2024

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With the 2024 Carson-Newman women's soccer season opener less than three weeks away, it is time to preview the Eagles roster, with the first of three position previews. We begin with a look at the forwards with help from graduate student Cameron Giles.

Simon Duffy's squad scored 28 goals, roughly 1.5 per match to rank fifth among schools in the South Atlantic Conference. All the forwards that contributed to that number in 2023 are back for this season.

"It's really exciting as a forward," Giles said. "Sometimes it was difficult to score because we had a lot of new people, including myself and so that chemistry in that final third was kind of difficult. It's nice to know personnel more this year, so hopefully we will get some success with that."

Carson-Newman's recipe for success has been scoring goals. When the team scores two goals or more, it went 6-0-2 in 2023. The program has not lost a game when scoring multiple goals since 2021 and has only lost twice since Duffy took over as head coach in 2017.

This position group has a quality blend of experience and youth, featuring two graduate students, two juniors, two sophomores and one freshman.

"I think our group does a good job of handling leadership everywhere," Giles said. "I think even our upcoming sophomores have leadership in them. Sav (Savannah Fields) and Philly (Felicia Frick) do a good job of including everyone in input. Overall, there is a lot of leaders and continuity with it."

Cameron Giles (Hendersonville, Tenn.) is coming off a strong first season in the attacking third, scoring three times and recording one assist in 19 appearances this past season.

"Simon did a good job of recruiting me and he set me up real nice with the team," Giles said. "All the success came from my teammates in the back. I wouldn't get the ball without them."

Krista Nielsen (Saudarkrokur, Iceland) also scored three goals last season, tying for second-most on the team. Nielsen also had an assist to tally seven points as a freshman.

Molly Bukiewicz (Beavercreek, Ohio) returns for a fifth season to give C-N more experience up front. She has 39 career appearances and has seven career assists.

Juniors Anita Arnadottir (Alfantes, Iceland) and Elysia Teske (Augusta, Ga) will look to make a jump this season. Arnadottir has 21 appearances in her first two seasons in Mossy Creek and recorded her first career assist in a season-opening win over North Greenville this past season. Teske battled through an injury to play in ten games after transferring from Emmanuel.

Sophomore Aliyah Douglas (Oneida, Tenn.) enters her second year after playing in five games as a rookie. The one new face up front is freshman Amani Kurzmeier (Abling, Germany.) Both underclassmen will seek opportunities to help C-N's attack in 2024.

Carson-Newman's position previews continue next Thursday, August 21st with a look at the midfielders with help from graduate student Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.).