HICKORY, N.C. – #7 Lenoir-Rhyne (9-0-3, 7-0-1 SAC) scored the deciding goal with less than 90 seconds to go in the opening half to take down Carson-Newman (5-4-2, 2-3-2 SAC) 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at Moretz Sports Athletic Complex.
"I thought it was a great effort from the team overall," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "Unfortunately, our quality wasn't there today. I was proud of our fight, we battled hard right until the end."
Carson-Newman has now lost back-to-back games by exactly 1-0 tallies.
Berna Kabakci kept #7 Lenoir-Rhyne off the scoreboard early in the first half. Nicole Auger and Evan O' Leary sent shots on goal in the 11th minute but the sophomore made two saves to keep the match scoreless.
Carson-Newman's defense forced errant shots from the Bears throughout much of the first half. LR's next shot on target came in the 41st minute. Emerson Talley's shot toward the center of goal was saved again by Kabakci.
LR broke through right before halftime. With less than 90 seconds to go in the half, the SAC's leader in assists added to her total, as O'Leary found Ava Hartman who slotted a shot into the lower right side of goal to give the Bears the 1-0 lead at halftime.
Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland) took Carson-Newman's first shot in the 53rd minute, seeing LR goalkeeper Riley Miller make a save on the shot toward the left side of goal.
Kabakci continued to keep C-N within striking distance. She made a pair of saves in the 62nd and 63rd minutes to keep the deficit at just one goal.
Carson-Newman had opportunities to tie the match in the final ten minutes. In the 82nd minute, Krista Nielsen's shot attempt missed off to the left.
C-N took its second and final corner kick in the 86th minute, but was unable to get a shot attempt off in the sequence.
Jud took C-N's final shot of the game, missing high on the game's final play.
Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Carson-Newman 18-3 and 9-1 on goal. The Bears also had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Kabakci finished the game with eight saves, matching her season-high.
Jud took two of Carson-Newman's three shots in the game.
O'Leary assisted on Hartman's goal for LR. Those two combined to take ten of the Bears' 18 shots.
The Eagles are back in action on Wednesday when they return home to face off with Newberry. 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.
