Carson-Newman Takes Food Lion Women's Soccer Title Over Catawba
Nov. 9, 2008
ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Carson-Newman women's soccer team won the 2008 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament on penalty kicks by a 6-5 advantage. The championship game was held at the Manchester Meadows Soccer Complex.
Carson-Newman's freshman forward Trenna Howell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) was named the tournament most valuable player as she recorded seven goals in three games.
Howell recorded the game's first goal as her shot in the 13th minute found the back of the net to give the Lady Eagles an early 1-0 lead. Howell's goal was set up bysenior Katie Perea (Cumming, Ga.), whose pass from the top of the penalty area allowed Howell to score the near-post goal.
The Catawba Indians would answer back four minutes later as Paige Harrington recorded her eleventh goal of the season tying the game in the 17th minute. Carson-Newman's freshman goalkeeper Lauren MacKenzie's (Barrie, Ontario, Canada) attempted to clear the ball from the defensive end as Harrington deflected the clearance into the net knotting the game in the first half.
The two teams went into the intermission tied at 1-1 with Catawba holding the shots advantage at 5-2.
The second half would showcase more goal-scoring opportunities for both team, but neither team was able to capitalize on the chances. The second half would not yield a goal for either team as extra time was needed to decide the winner.
In the two overtime periods, once again neither team would come away with a goal as Lady Eagles and Indians played the entire twenty minutes to a scoreless draw. The contest was officially recorded as a tie.
The women's soccer title was determined by a penalty kick shootout for the third straight year. Each of the three years Catawba was defeated in the championship game in penalty kicks. Carson-Newman sophomore Melissa Morris (Sweetwater, Tenn.) would record the final penalty kick for the Lady Eagles in the the seventh round. MacKenzie blocked Sarah Mosier's attempt to tie the kicks to give the Lady Eagles the 2008 SAC Title.
This marks the Lady Eagles' second SAC tournament title in three years. Carson-Newman will now return to Tennessee and await the selections anouncement for the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament. The selections will be announced Monday.
