JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechenstien) became the program's all-time leader in penalty kick goals with her sixth in the 22nd minute, but Wingate (9-2-3, 7-1-1 SAC) scored three consecutive goals to defeat Carson-Newman (5-5-3, 2-4-3 SAC) in Saturday afternoon's contest at McCown Field.
"It was a bit of a kick in the teeth to concede so quickly after we scored," Carson-Newman men's soccer head coach Simon Duffy said. "It was a very evenly played opening half. I thought we started the second half quite well, but 25 got in behind us again and then we concede another soft goal that we could have won the ball higher up the field. Wingate is a very good side, they moved the ball extremely well and have competent players all over the field and made good decisions on the ball."
The loss is Carson-Newman first's loss in its home regular season finale in the past nine seasons.
It took 11 minutes of game action to get our first shots, but both were quality opportunities. Katie Ensalaco's shot from just outside the box forced a diving effort from C-N goalkeeper Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands).
Shortly after, it was Alba Delgado (Oviedo, Spain) to take her chance but had her shot stopped with the Wingate goalkeeper charging out on a threw ball.
A great sequence of passing led to a penalty kick. Kendall Garber's (Quakertown, Pa) cross to the back post found Karli Pettitt (Kingston, Tenn.) who was knocked down in the box, awarding C-N a penalty kick. Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechentein) stepped up and buried her sixth career PK goal, becoming the program's all-time leader in penalty kick goals. She is a perfect six for six in her career.
"Just calm under pressure," Duffy said. "The experience that girl has is exceptional for her national team. I think she takes the penalty kicks for her national team too, I wonder why. Very calm and very confident, that's the key. You have to have belief in yourself to be able to step up and take it and she does."
Wingate wasted no time tying the game back up. Audu Halldorsdottir carved her way into the box and slotted a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of goal to level the match less than two minutes after Frick's goal.
Halldorsdottir scored a second goal on the second shot of the second half. A great down the field pass from Gabby Agelis set up Halldorsdottir who flicked a shot with her right foot in the bottom left part of goal to make it 2-1 Wingate in the 57th minute.
Eleven minutes later, Manu Baptista Filipe capped off the scoring for the Bulldogs. Halldorsdottir's dribbling allowed her to set up a pass for Baptista Filipe who crushed a right-footed shot into the top left corner to give WU a 3-1 advantage in the 69th minute.
The Eagles had opportunities to draw within striking distance. Two of C-N's three second half shots came one minute apart. Frick's 64th minute shot toward target was saved by Faucette. Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) went wide right with her shot shortly after.
In the 75th minute, Delgado took aim from the top of the box, hitting the crossbar with her shot attempt. That would register as Carson-Newman's final shot of the game.
Wingate outshot Carson-Newman 16-10 and had an 8-3 advantage on shots on goal. WU took the game's only three corner kicks.
Kabakci made five saves, facing eight shots on goal.
Carson-Newman is back in action on the road next Saturday against Anderson. 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.
