Eagles look to rebound against Pioneers Wednesday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women’s soccer will look to rebound when their old-school Tennessee rival, the Tusculum Pioneers (2-5, 2-1 SAC), come to McCown Field for a Wednesday night matchup.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's soccer will look to rebound when their old-school Tennessee rival, the Tusculum Pioneers (2-5, 2-1 SAC), come to McCown Field for a Wednesday night matchup. The Eagles and Pioneers will kick off their 43rd all-time meeting on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.
The Eagles (3-2-2, 2-1 SAC) are coming into Wednesday after being defeated by the Catawba College Catawba Indians 7-0 Saturday night. Saturday's result marks the worst home loss for a Simon Duffy led squad since he began in 2017. The worst home loss under Duffy prior to Saturday's result came in 2019 when the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears walked away 3-0 winners from McCown Field.
"Tusculum is a good team no matter the record, formation, or anything related to game prep. They come and give us a tough match anytime we play and they'll look to take one over us Wednesday," head coach Simon Duffy said. "It helps to have this rivalry be one down the road, but the overall atmosphere is one where we want to show out for our fans and families and supporters because Saturday did not show what we can do."
The 7-0 defeat also marked the first time an Eagles opponent has scored at least seven goals in a match since 2012. During the 2012 season, North Georgia was able to hand C-N an 8-1 defeat. The second-most goals allowed by an Eagles team in a single match since then came in 2014 when St. Leo handed the Eagles a 6-0 defeat in the second match of the season.
Turning the page to the Pioneers, the series history currently favors C-N 20-19-2. Under Duffy, the Eagles have outscored the Pioneers 17-7, while winning five out of the six total matchups while Duffy has been in Mossy Creek. While playing in Mossy Creek, the Eagles have only won eight out of the 24 total matchups in the entire series history and have been outscored 48-30 all-time.
"We are lucky to do what we can and turn around and play again come tomorrow. That is one of the benefits of a normal schedule like this where we have to have short-term memory and move onto the next match no matter the result," Duffy said. "We have the talent to compete and be one of the top six teams in this league if we play a full 90 minute game like we know we can."
Prior to the shortened spring season, the last time the Eagles started 2-1 in conference play was 2010. Since then, after the first three SAC matches of a season, the Eagles are a combined 19-9-2 since 2010, including the shortened spring season.
The last time the Eagles and Pioneers met in Jefferson City was during the shortened spring season as the second part of a quick two-game turnaround between the two programs. On a day where the weather was anything but perfect, the Eagles and Pioneers battled through drenched field conditions as graduate student Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) proved to be the ultimate difference maker.
It was Futrell starting the scoring early for C-N as she netted the game-opening goal in the 16th minute off an assist from junior Makayla Garner (Fort Mill, S.C.). Garner added one of her own in the 25th minute after teammate Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) to double the Eagles lead and make it 2-0 after the first 45 minutes of action.
Tusculum responded with a pair of goals by Briana Garcia in the 63rd minute and in the 77th minute. This set up a pivotal overtime period between the Eagles and Pioneers in order to capture the valuable three points. Finally, in the 99th minute, Futrell made the ultimate difference as she found an assist from Jente Kuper (Ottersberg, Germany) and gave C-N the 3-2 victory.
"I know we can be one of the top teams but we faced a great team in Catawba and now we need to turn the page and focus to Tusculum," Duffy said. "Every team in the SAC is probably licking their lips to face us after what went down on Saturday. We know we are a better team than what was seen and we look forward to proving that as the season continues."
Tusculum will arrive in Mossy Creek after winning two straight SAC matches in 2021 over Coker and Mars Hill after losing their SAC opener to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. After suffering a tough slate of non-conference action, the Pioneers started SAC play with a tough 3-0 loss to Lincoln Memorial before rebounding to win two straight over the Cobras and Lions.
So far in 2021 SAC play, the Pioneers have outscored their opponents 5-4 including their wins over Mars Hill (2-0) and Coker (3-1) in SAC play. The Pioneers have also fired the fifth-most shot attempts in SAC play with 46, have attempted the second-most corner kicks with 19, and have scored the fifth-most goals with their five through three matches.
In their last match against Coker, junior Bailey Bylotas was joined on the scoreboard by teammates Myah Giordullo and Yvette Raaijen who notched their first goals of the season in Tusculum's 3-1 victory. With her penalty kick goal against the Cobras, Raaijen has now attempted six such shots without a miss in her Pioneers career. Meanwhile, Giordullo's goal was the first in the freshman's collegiate career for the Pioneers and Mike Joy.
The Pioneers are led by the winningest coach in school and SAC history, Mike Joy, who is entering his 25th season. In his previous 24 campaigns in Greeneville, he has amassed 278 wins with the Pioneers. Since 2000, the Pioneers have finished top three in the SAC 12 times while claiming five SAC championships and four SAC Tournament titles. Since joining the Division II ranks in the 1998 season, Tusculum has only seen two losing records under the direction of Joy.
Joy came to Tusculum after a successful five-year run at Midway College, going 86-25-5 and capturing five consecutive Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) titles. He guided the Eagles to a record five NAIA regional championships appearances, claimed two Mid-South region titles and earned back-to-back berths in the NAIA National Championships following the 1994 and 1995 seasons. His squads were also ranked in the NAIA Top 20 during all five seasons, and most remarkably, his teams never lost a conference match during his watch.
On the offensive side of the ball, Bylotas is second on the team in goals (two), shot attempts (12), and shots on goal (eight), trailing senior Kenzie Ellenburg who continues to lead the squad in goals (three), shot attempts (21), and shots on goal (12).
For Tusculum this season, the Pioneers have seen goalkeeper Emma Harriman start the last four matches in goal. She is currently fifth in the SAC in total saves with 22, has a goals against average of 1.33 and a .765 save percentage in conference matches.
Carson-Newman will conclude their brief two-match homestand when the two Tennessee rivals kick off from McCown Field at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Fans can watch the action via the Eagles Sports Network at cneagles.com/live and follow live in-game updates via Twitter from @CN_Eagles.
Team Stats
Tusculum
| Game Statistics | Tusculum | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 8 (3) | 20 (6) |
| Saves | 4 | 2 |
| Fouls | 7 | 3 |
| Corner Kicks | 3 | 5 |
| Offsides | 2 | 2 |
