JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman (4-2-2, 1-1-2 SAC) continues South Atlantic Conference play when it welcomes Mars Hill (1-5-1, 0-2-1 SAC) to McCown Field for a Senior Day matchup at 1:00 p.m.
C-N will honor four seniors on Saturday afternoon, Cameron Giles (Hendersonville, Tenn.), Noel Criser (West Yarmouth, Mass), Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Danielle Lacy (Rochester, Ill.). Senior day festivities will take place during halftime of the men's game, which will approximately be around 4:15 p.m.
"Danielle and Cam transferred in," Carson-Newman women's soccer head coach Simon Duffy said. "Danielle from a community college and Cam from UT Chattanooga. We've just had those two here for a short period of time, but they've jumped into things and integrated wonderfully well. Then Savannah and Noel, last year when they approached me and said that'd like to use their fifth year, I was over the moon and it wasn't something I needed to think about. They are so selfless. We talk about servant leadership at this university and being Christ centered, I cannot think of two others that amplify that every single day."
Coming off ties, C-N has fared well as of late. The Eagles have won their last three games, when playing to a draw the game prior. It matches the program's best stretch of results after ties, having a similar stretch between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Sophomore defender Karli Pettitt (Kingston, Tenn.) leads Carson-Newman's offense with four goals this season. Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland) and Krista Nielsen (Saudarkrokur, Iceland) join Pettitt as multi-goal scorers this season with two, while five others have scored at least one goal. In total, eight different players have scored a goal. Three others, that have not scored a goal, have assisted on a goal giving Carson-Newman 11 different players that have recorded a point this season.
Carson-Newman has been really strong in South Atlantic Conference play under Simon Duffy. The 8th year head coach has posted a 49-16-9 record against the league since taking over in 2017. The Eagles have gone 45-13-6 at home over the past two seasons and are 3-0 so far this season, outscoring opponents 9-2 at McCown Field.
In a series with 36 meetings, Carson-Newman has overwhelmed Mars Hill winning 32 of the 36 contests. The longest winning streak in the series by C-N came to an end last season. The Lions and Eagles played to a scoreless draw in this past season's meeting. Despite seeing the winning streak to the Lions end, C-N's unbeaten streak remains intact at 18 games dating back to the 2007 season.
Mars Hill enters Saturday's contest having lost its last four games. Overall, it is 1-5-1 and 0-2-1 in SAC competition this season.
Certainly, the Lions are trying to get back in the swing of things after going two weeks between games. In their return to action, they fell 3-0 on Monday evening to Wingate.
Through seven games, the Lions possess the worst offense in the South Atlantic Conference. Just three goals have been scored, two of which came in a 4-2 loss to Anderson on Sept 20. Mars Hill ranks last in the league in corner kicks per match, averaging 1.57. It is second to last in shots per game (7.57) and shots on goal per game (4.14). The low number of shots has led to quality shot accuracy for the Lions, a .547 percentage, second highest in the SAC.
Carla Humera has two of the team's three goals this season. She is also the team leader in shots (14) and shots on goal (9).
First-Team All-conference goalkeeper Camryn Miller has 32 saves, the fourth-most in the SAC. She recorded a season-high 11 saves in a 1-0 shutout win versus Young Harris in the season opener. Miller has a .762 save percentage in six starts this season.
"She is a very good shot stopper," Duffy said. "We saw that last year. She is very good with her feet and very comfortable with her feet and then whether its kicking or punting she smacks the ball. Very frustrating for us down there last year. They played a very tight game against us and we were unable to break them down. We have to go into the game knowing what we are going up against."
The match will start at 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.
