JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (5-3-2, 2-2-2 SAC) is set to battle its third ranked team of the season when it meets #7 Lenoir-Rhyne (8-0-3, 6-0-1 SAC) Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in Hickory, North Carolina.
It will be the first time since 2011 that Carson-Newman will face three ranked teams in the regular season. C-N had four matchups against ranked teams in 2023, two of which came in postseason action.
The Eagles tied #9 Catawba and lost to #23 Columbus State in their previous two ranked matchups earlier this season. All three meetings against ranked teams will have been on the road. The program's last win over a ranked club was in Oct of 2018 versus #13 Limestone. It's been exactly 20 seasons since Carson-Newman's last true road win against a ranked team.
Sophomore defender Karli Pettitt (Kingston, Tenn.) leads Carson-Newman's offense with four goals this season. Anita Arnadottir (Alfantes, Iceland), Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland), Krista Nielsen (Saudarkrokur, Iceland) and Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) are all multi-goal scorers with Pettitt this season, each having two. Eight different players have scored a goal this season. Four others, that have not scored a goal, have assisted on a goal. 12 different players 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 50-17-9 record against the league since taking over in 2017.
In a series with 43 meetings, Carson-Newman has won 13 of them, trailing the series 13-26-4 advantage. Both sides are very familiar with one another. The two squads met three times last season, once in the regular season and twice in the postseason, one in each in the SAC and NCAA Tournaments. The Bears won all three matchups and outscored C-N 9-1. LR has won seven straight meetings in the series. C-N's last victory over the Bears was in 2018, a 1-0 road win.
Lenoir-Rhyne is the reigning Southeast Region champions, taking down C-N, Columbus State and Catawba in route to the regional title. Despite a coaching change, the Bears have picked up right where they left off in 2023 and have started this season 8-0-3. Their 6-0-1 record in SAC play is good for 19 points, tied for first with Wingate, who has an extra game played over the Bears. Two of their three ties came in the first three games of the season. LR found its groove ending September with wins over #24 Florida Tech, Wingate and Emory & Henry, with a tie against #4 Columbus State in there as well.
The victory over Wingate to end September started what is now a five-match winning streak for first-year head coach Jo Fennema's team. The past three wins have all come on the road against Newberry, Coker and Mars Hill. During this winning streak, LR has outscored its opponents 11-2.
LR's is one of the most accurate shooting teams in the DII. It averages 20 shots per game, with more than half of them finding the target. The accuracy has led to 27 goals in 11 games, the third best average in the SAC. Ava Hartman has a team-best five goals, while four others have scored multiple times this year as well. Evan O'Leary is the conference's leader in assists with eight. She leads LR in points (14), shots (47) and shots on goal (21) as well.
Riley Miller has been one of the best goalkeepers in the league this season. She is tied for first with a goals against average mark at 0.82. She is saving more than 80% of the shots she faces, the fourth-highest mark in the SAC. She has 37 saves to go along with four shutouts this season.
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.
