Eagles take flight for conference contest at Newberry
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – As the Eagles continue their 2021 SAC slate, they embark on the last leg of their two-match road trip with a trek to Newberry against the Newberry Wolves (3-8, 3-4 SAC)
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – As the Eagles continue their 2021 SAC slate, they embark on the last leg of their two-match road trip with a trek to Newberry against the Newberry Wolves (3-8, 3-4 SAC) for a Saturday night showdown. The Eagles and Wolves will kick off their 28th all-time meeting when they get started from the Smith Road Complex at 6:00 p.m. Saturday night.
The Eagles (6-3-3, 4-2-1 SAC) come off an offensive outburst against their rivals, Lincoln Memorial, on Wednesday but could only see one point to their name as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. LMU broke open the scoring with a 39th minute goal from Jessica Cravero, the first goal C-N had allowed in 246:32 minutes of gameplay.
However, freshman Alisha Heiniger (Duerrenroth, Switzerland) stepped up in the 86th minute and pushed the game-tying goal into the back of the net in the 85th minute. This is the first time an Eagle has scored in the last five minutes of regulation since Jenter Kuper netted the game-winner earlier this season against the Tusculum Pioneers in the 85th minute on September 29.
"We played with a lot more energy and drive in the second half as we tried to equalize and maybe even take the victory," Duffy said. "That goal from Alisa off the free kick was absolutely beautiful and it really helped us come away with some type of result, even if it wasn't a win like we deserved."
As the Eagles stay on the road, they will look to build upon their 22-7-2 road record under head coach Simon Duffy. When playing SAC opponents on the road under Duffy, the Eagles are now 18-3-2 all-time.
One of the shining spots for the Eagles has been graduate student Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) who is continuing to cement her place in CNWS program history. Through the 12 Eagles matches thus far, Futrell has seen herself place a spot in the top-five for career points (81), goals (33), shots (240), and shots on goal (109).
With her five shot attempts against the 'Splitters, Futrell has now claimed sole possession of the third-most shot attempts as she now holds 245 in her five year-career. She stays at 109 shots on goal, which is fifth-most in program history.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the Eagles, freshman Nellie Bryneus (Halmstad, Sweden) continues leading the team with the most shot attempts (35), the most points (10), and shots on goal (19). Bryneus remains tied with fellow freshman Sydnee Duncan (Athens, Tenn.) for the team lead in goals as the two freshman have compiled four goals apiece. Of her four goals, Duncan has netted a team-leading two game-winners. Finally, Emilee Futrell continues to lead the way for the Eagles with her four assists in 2021.
"We need to come out and play like we have in the last couple matches as we are starting to get to the point we're used to and want to see on a consistent basis," Duffy said. "Wednesday was a tale of two halves. Pretty balanced first half with both teams fighting hard and LMU getting the goal to go ahead, but that second half, they were chasing shadows and we seemed like we were primed to get the win."
Turning the page to the Wolves, Carson-Newman leads the series history 21-6 including 9-5 on the road against Newberry. The Eagles, when making the trip to Newberry, have lost three out of the last five matchups but have never lost in Newberry under Duffy. In their lone trip to Newberry under Duffy, the Eagles won 3-1 during the 2018 season. Overall, the Eagles are 4-0 against the Wolves under Duffy while outscoring the Wolves 8-1 in those matches.
The last time the Eagles hit the road to Newberry was in September 2018. Coming off a 7-0 home win over the Coker Cobras, the Eagles continued their 2018 winning ways as they left Newberry with a 3-1 victory.
The scoring got started early on as Magda Mosengo scored in the 5th minute off an assist by Holly Talbut-Smith with a through ball from the right side of the pitch. The Eagles continued getting shot attempts off as at the halftime break, they lead the way in shots 11-1 over the Wolves.
Once the second half started, it would be Emilee Futrell netting the second goal for C-N in the 57th minute after Magda Mosengo set up her with the assist. About 10 minutes later in game play, Elena Propst (Maiden, N.C.) joined the scoring party as she received a Futrell assist in the 68th minute before tickling the twine and making it 3-0 Eagles.
The Wolves would respond with a goal from Deisi Hernandez in the 81st minute, but it would not be enough as they fell 3-1 and saw C-N take the 33-7 shot advantage after 90 minutes.
"I know the girls are excited to get back on the road and travel to Newberry. They're a hot team right now as they've won three straight but I'm hopefully optimistic that we'll be up for the challenge and it will be a good match," Duffy said. "We have had so many attempts, but we all know the object of the game is to score goals and I know one of these matches, the flood gates might open for us."
Newberry welcomes the Eagles to the Smith Road Complex after winning three straight matches over Coker, Tusculum, and Anderson. After starting their SAC slate 0-4, the Wolves have responded to win over the Cobras (3-1), Pioneers (2-1), and Trojans (1-0 in 2OT).
In the match against Anderson (S.C.), the Wolves and Trojans battled back-and-forth in the first 45 as at the break, it was 5-4 for the shots with Anderson holding the advantage. However, Newberry came out firing in the second half as they saw 10 total attempts but could not push across a goal.
However, in the 103rd minute of the first overtime period, Brianna Azar netted her first goal of the season and gave the Wolves a crucial 1-0 victory as they have now outscored their last three SAC opponents 6-2.
The 2021 SAC season has seen most of the overall production for the Wolves. Of their 140 total shot attempts, 95 have come against SAC opponents, the eighth-most in conference. Meanwhile, the Wolves have scored seven out of their eight goals of the season in SAC play and are averaging 13.6 shots/game. The Wolves also have held 35 shots on goal in SAC play, the ninth-most in conference, while only holding four assists in SAC competition. Finally, Newberry has taken the 10th most corner kicks in SAC play as they have been awarded 24 such kicks.
Newberry is led by eighth-year head coach, Diana "Deedee" Alexander, who was named head coach in January 2014 after serving the program as assistant coach for two years. Since Alexander has taken over the program, the Wolves have gone 29-43-4 against SAC opponents and 50-65-11 overall. The last winning season for an Alexander-led squad came during the 2019 season as Newberry finished 7-7-3 overall. That 2019 season was the fourth consecutive seven-win season for the Wolves, highlighted by a three-match win streak over Coker, Mars Hill, and Converse.
After the 2019 season, the Wolves qualified for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament for the fourth time under Alexander. Daphne Heyaime was named SAC All-Conference second-team, while teammates Jacqueline Aldrete and Emma Harms received honorable mentions honors.
Alexander came to Newberry from the University of San Diego, where she led the Toreros to win their first West Coast Conference title and aided in a run to the round of 16 in the 2011 Women's College Cup. Prior to USD, Alexander made a stop at Kansas Wesleyan where they won multiple conference titles and made it to the round of 16 in the NAIA Tournament.
Alexander was a collegiate athlete at Pepperdine University where she started as center defender on one of the top ranked defenses in the country. Alexander was even recruited by the Argentine national team during her junior season. She came to Pepperdine after starting her collegiate career at Long Beach State where was named first team All-Big West during her freshman campaign.
On offense, Ashlee Rotert has seen her goals lead the team thus far. Rotert has attempted 11 total shots with three being shots on goal. Teammate Jaidyn Jacobs is the team leader for shots as she has fired off 41 shots in 2021 with 13 shots on goal to also lead the team in that category.
Delaney Hood has been responsible for the three Wolves win of the season as she was the starting goalkeeper in the last three previous SAC matches. Hood has allowed 11 goals while making 36 total saves off 98 total shots faced, holding a GAA of 1.54. Hood has been responsible for one shutout this season.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from the Smith Road Complex as the Wolves and Eagles meet for the 28th time as the Eagles have seemingly dominated the series, leading 21-6 including winning the last six matchups.
Live in-game video will be provided by the athletics staff at Newberry via this link along with live in-game stats provided at this link and live-in game update provided via Twitter from @CN_Eagles.
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Team Stats
Newberry
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | Newberry |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 23 (7) | 8 (2) |
| Saves | 2 | 6 |
| Fouls | 5 | 10 |
| Corner Kicks | 3 | 6 |
| Offsides | 0 | 0 |
