Three seniors honored as Eagles host Brevard
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The 24th-ranked Carson-Newman women’s soccer team (12-2, 7-1 SAC) welcome the Brevard Tornados (4-8-1, 2-7 SAC) to McCown Field for the Eagles’ regular season home finale and Senior Night as three C-N players will be honored between games.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 |
|
|
1 | 1 | 2 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The 24th-ranked Carson-Newman women's soccer team (12-2, 7-1 SAC) welcome the Brevard Tornados (4-8-1, 2-7 SAC) to McCown Field for the Eagles' regular season home finale and Senior Night as three C-N players will be honored between games.
Seniors Mikayla Gregg (Newport, Tenn.), Nikki McWilliams (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) and Lauren Morelock (Abingdon, Va.) will have their careers celebrated following the conclusion of the women's game.
Carson-Newman enters the contest against the Tornados on a five-match win streak, which ties the longest win streak on the season, while Brevard has lost its last two contests, including an overtime defeat on the road at Newberry on Wednesday. The Eagles are second in the South Atlantic Conference with a game in hand of leading Wingate, while the Tornados are in a four-way tie for ninth with six points and are fighting for a SAC Tournament bid.
"Any conference game is going to be hard. We treat them all the same. Brevard, we'll treat them with the same respect we'll treat Wingate," coach Richard Moodie said. "To me, it doesn't matter where the teams rank in conference. Any team can beat anyone on any given day. They're a good team, very disciplined, very hard working. I'm just thankful we don't have to go to Brevard; that's a tough place to come out of with a win."
Morelock transferred to Carson-Newman from Virginia Tech and has spent the last three seasons in the Orange and Blue. She has appeared in 23 contests for the Eagles and has played over 650 minutes of game action. She tallied her first-career assist against Milligan as a sophomore and scored a goal for C-N with her first-ever touch against Maryville College in a spring game three years ago.
Gregg is the lone senior that has spent all four seasons with Carson-Newman. She has played in 58 matches and accumulated over 4,100 minutes of playing time. Gregg ranks third all-time with two made penalty kicks, tied for eighth with 54 shots on goal and 10th with 107 shots. She has 12 career goals and five assists, including a score this season against Mars Hill. Her career-high for goals in a game came last season on the road at Alabama-Huntsville with two scores against the Chargers.
McWilliams has played for Carson-Newman during the last two seasons. Her junior season in 2014 was cut short due to an injury. This year, the Northern Ireland-native has started every game and has scored six goals against Alabama-Huntsville, Queens (N.C.), Lincoln Memorial and Catawba. McWilliams has the third-most shots with 36 and third-most points with 12.
"Hopefully, it will mean a lot to them," Moodie said of the trio's final year. "Some of them have been in and out of the squad with playing time and it's been tough. They've been key in the success; they've been a part of it and never quit on us. They've always been there through the good and the bad and I think that's important. The leadership qualities they show on and off the field is an important part of this whole process, too.
For me, it's exciting for them to have the season they've had this year, because this is what they should've looked like for the last few years. Hopefully, they are enjoying themselves as much as everyone else is."
The Tornados' leading scorer is junior Anita Maryskova who has tallied four goals. The Czech scored off a free kick on Wednesday against Newberry in the 88th-minute to force overtime. Maryskova's four scores ranks in the top-five in the NCAA era for Brevard. Brevard has the highest shots on goal percentage in league play with 62.3 percent of Brevard's shots landing on frame. The Tornados only have 77 shots against league opponents.
Jocelyn Springer has made all 13 starts in goal for Brevard and has a goals against average of 1.26. The sophomore has made 58 saves and has only conceded 16 goals in 2015. Springer's 10 career wins makes her just the second Tornado to accumulate 10 wins in a career as a goalkeeper.
Last season, Brevard knocked off the Eagles for the first time in the series history with a 1-0 result in the Tar Heel State. C-N owns a 6-1-2 record over the Tornados since Brevard joined the SAC in 2007.
The Eagles and Tornados kick off from McCown Field at 5 p.m. with video and live stats provided by the Eagle Sports Network.
-CN-
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Brevard | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 4 (3) | 26 (10) |
| Saves | 8 | 3 |
| Fouls | 5 | 7 |
| Corner Kicks | 0 | 5 |
| Offsides | 0 | 5 |
