EMORY, Va. – Emory & Henry (3-2-1, 2-1 SAC) scored both of its goals on long free kicks to defeat Carson-Newman (4-2-1, 1-1-1 SAC) 2-0, Wednesday night at Fred Selfe Stadium.
"Obviously it's a disappointing result," Carson-Newman women's soccer head coach Simon Duffy said. "Full credit to Emory & Henry, they outplayed us and deserved to win. We were very poor in every aspect and hopefully we can change things around as we head to Limestone this weekend."
The loss is C-N's first in South Atlantic Conference play this season. It also ends Carson-Newman's unbeaten streak which was up to five games entering the contest.
Carson-Newman did the attacking early on. Less than two minutes into the game, Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechtenstein) took the game's first shot missing over top the crossbar. The midfielder went back to work in the 5th minute, Frick's shot toward the center of goal was saved by Ava Puskas.
After a pair of shots went wide, Krista Nielsen (Saudarkrokur, Iceland) put more pressure on the E&H goalkeeper. Nielsen took aim toward goal but also missed with her shot that was toward the center of the goal in the 18th minute.
Charlotte Stavis took the Wasps' first chance of the night, having her shot attempt saved by C-N goalkeeper Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands) in the 22nd minute.
Two minutes later, E&H scored the first goal. A free kick from midfield was headed up into the air and backward toward goal and bounced in to give the Wasps a 1-0 advantage early.
Carson-Newman took the game's first five shots, but Emory & Henry took the final three of the first half to hold a 1-0 advantage.
Nearly 30 minutes passed between Carson-Newman's fifth and sixth shots. The first chance of the second half came on a header from Anita Arnadottir (Alfantes, Iceland) which missed wide left.
The Eagles threatened again in the 62nd minute. Annika Fend's shot on target was saved by Puskas.
Shortly after, Karli Pettitt (Kingston, Tenn.) went for goal from distance off the crossbar. The rebound chance came from Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland) whose shot was deflected out.
E&H made hay on another free kick from more than 35 yards away. Olivia DaSilva's appeared to be cross was not touched and bounced into the bottom right corner of goal and the Wasps grew the lead to 2-0 in the 66th minute.
In the 74th minute, Molly Bukiewicz (Beavercreek, Ohio) controlled a cross in the box but her left-footed shot forced a near-sided save from Puskas.
That would go down as C-N's final registered shot. The Wasps took the final four shots of the match in the last 13 minutes, not allowing the Eagles to get many looks to mount a comeback.
The Eagles did manage to outshoot the Wasps 12-9, with shots on goal at four for both teams. C-N got three corner kicks and for the first time this season, did not allow its opponent to take a corner.
Kabakci made three saves in her second loss of the season.
Carson-Newman is back on the pitch on Sunday when it travels to Gaffney, South Carolina for a road contest against Limestone. First touch is set for 1:00 p.m. A live stream of the game is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/flowsoc.
Fans can also follow along by following @CN_Eagles on X (Twitter) and Instagram for in-game updates.
