GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Carson-Newman jumped out
to a three-goal and held off a second half charge by Tusculum as
the 15th-ranked Eagles posted a 4-2 South Atlantic Conference
victory over Tusculum Tuesday night at Pioneer Field.
With the victory, Carson-Newman (14-2, 9-1 SAC) moves into sole
possession of first place in the league, while snapping a
five-match losing streak to the Pioneers (9-7-1, 5-4-1 SAC).
The Eagles scored two goals in the in opening 6:15 of the match. Julianne Herrity notched her team-leading 12th goal of the season as her shot from the top of the box deflected off the hands of TC keeper Miriah Martin into the left side of the next for a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.
Less than two minutes later, Alex Brandan scored her first goal of her collegiate career on a strange series of plays inside the penalty area. Averi Williams flicked in a shot over the Tusculum defense as Martin went back to her line and deflected the ball from going into the goal. But the deflection went straight to the foot of Brandan who kicked it in for a 2-0 Carson-Newman advantage.
Early in the second half, C-N made it a 3-0 lead as Nikki McWilliams converted a turnover on a goal kick and blasted a shot from 19 yards out inside to the near post in the 48th minute of the match.
Tusculum responded with its first goal of the match as rookie Katja Andersson shot from 21 yards away that went through several players untouched and away from the out-stretched hands of C-N keeper Jessica Fraiture at the 50:53 mark of the match. The goal was the sixth of the season for Andersson.
Carson-Newman got the goal back in the 61st minute when Williams kicked in a long ball from over 45 yards out. The ball landed in the box 10 yards away from the goal and bounced over the head of reserve TC keeper Hannah Graham and went into the goal for Williams first collegiate score.
Tusculum's Emma MacDonald added a late goal for the Pioneers in the 88th minute, which was assisted by senior Gabrielle Whitt to provide the final scoring margin.
Fraiture went the distance for C-N as she finished with a pair of saves. Martin made five saves in her 54 minutes in goal, while Graham made a season-high seven saves in her 36 minutes of action.
Tusculum returns to action on Friday as they host Wingate University for Senior Day at Pioneer Field. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m.
- TC -
