No. 11 Carson-Newman Women’s Soccer Earns 3-1 Victory To Win Fifth SAC Title

NEWBERRY, S.C. – The No. 11 Carson-Newman College Women’s Soccer Team (15-2-1, 6-1-1 SAC) scored two goal in the final five minutes of the match to defeat Newberry College (13-4-1, 5-2-1 SAC) by a 3-1 margin Saturday afternoon to win the fifth South Atlantic Conference Title in school history.

The Lady Eagles were helped to the league crown by Lenoir-Rhyne University, which upset Tusculum College, 2-1 in overtime in Hickory Saturday.

After a scoreless first half, senior forward Nikki Brannen (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) gave the Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead when she chipped a pass from junior defender Melissa Morris (Sweetwater, Tenn.) past the keeper in the 58th minute.

It looked as if the result would be 1-nil for the visitors, but Newberry equalized with 5:32 left in the contest as Sara Geisman converted a penalty kick for the goal.

Less than a minute and a half later, freshman midfielder Lizeth Munguia (Wilmington, N.C.) received a cross from sophomore forward Trenna Howell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and tapped it in for the 2-1 lead.

Carson-Newman got the insurance goal with just 50 seconds left in the match. After the Lady Eagles were awarded a corner kick, Howell bent the serve in to the net to make the score 3-1.

C-N sophomore Lauren MacKenzie (Barrie, Ontario, CANADA) picked up the win in goal with six saves while Newberry’s Emily Rhoades tallied four saves in the losing effort.

As the #1 seed in the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, Carson-Newman must await the result of a tie-breaker between Brevard College and Mars Hill College before the Lady Eagles will know their tournament quarterfinal opponent. The match will take place Tuesday at McCown Field with the kickoff time yet to be determined.