JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Hoping to keep their winning streak alive, Carson-Newman women's soccer headed to Harrogate for an ole fashioned Tennessee tussle on Wednesday. The Eagles headed to Harrogate to take on their rivals, the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (6-2-2, 4-2-1 SAC).
Thanks to the heroics of freshman Alisha Heiniger (Durrenroth, Switzerland) in the 85th minute, Carson-Newman (6-3-3, 4-2-1 SAC) were able to come back from an early 1-0 deficit and see the first tie against LMU since November 2018 in the NCAA Southeast Regional.
As the Eagles were back on the road, they now move to 22-7-2 all-time under head coach Simon Duffy, including a 18-3-2 mark against SAC opponents on the road.
Overall, the series has been mostly dominated by the Eagles as they lead the series history 18-10-3 after Wednesday's back-and-forth battle. As part of their record against SAC foes on the road, the Eagles are 8-4-1 all-time when making the short trip to Harrogate and have outscored their rivals 34-15 in all matches.
"Frustrated we didn't get the result but delighted with the team performance as we created a lot of chances like we like to play," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said.
The first 20 minutes of action was all about both teams trying to feel each other out and see what strategy would help be the difference maker. Both teams combined for four shot attempts as C-N's best of those two came from freshman Nellie Bryneus (Halmstad, Sweden) in the 17th minute which was just a little too wide left of the goal.
The first save of Wednesday was credited to C-N's goalkeeper, Lilly Ebner (Hohentengen, Germany) in the 23rd minute off a shot from LMU's Rachel Taylor in the bottom left corner. Taylor has been a thorn in the Eagles' side in recent matchups as she scored three out of the four goals C-N allowed in the spring matchups against LMU.
The Eagles were only inches away from making it 1-0 in the 27th minute as graduate student Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) found the ball off an LMU turnover and set up Bryneus with a perfect pass behind the defense. Bryneus made a couple moves, but LMU's goalkeeper, Bente Latenstein, stepped up huge and made the stop to keep it at zero apiece.
However, it would be LMU breaking through just minutes before halftime as Jessica Cravero netted her seventh goal of the season off the assist by Rachel Taylor and Mimi Neijens in the 39th minute. This is the first goal C-N has allowed in 246:32 minutes of gameplay since Queens (N.C.) netted their game-winning goal in the 28th minute on October 2.
At the halftime whistle on Wednesday, the Eagles and Railsplitters were tied in shots with six apiece as three of LMU's attempts would be shots on goal while only one for C-N would fall in that category. This brings C-N's first half shot total to 45 shots overall in SAC competition this season.
The 1-0 deficit after the first 45 marked the fourth instance this season where C-N would face a halftime deficit this season. Overall, C-N has faced a halftime deficit in six out of their 11 matches thus far.
The Eagles have consistently seen the second half be where they find most of their success. They came out firing early on as senior Elena Propst (Maiden, N.C.) fired off a shot within the first two minutes of the second half as C-N fought to find an equalizer. Emilee Futrell added another quality attempt for C-N only a couple minutes later, but her attempt would go high in the 50th minute.
Freshman Sydnee Duncan (Athens, Tenn.) put her name on the shot ledger as she would attempt one in the 55th minute but would see it go high as well. Duncan would add another attempt in the 65th minute but her effort was blocked by an LMU defender as the score remained 1-0 in favor of the Railsplitters.
In the 81st minute, graduate student Lira Mathes (Knoxville, Tenn.) had a perfect attempt set up for her right in front of goal but the Railsplitters defense stepped up and made the team save once again to maintain their lead. Emilee Futrell added her third attempt of the match in the 82nd minute, but it was blocked as the game reached its weaning moments.
Enter freshman Alisha Heiniger (Duerrenroth, Switzerland) in the 86th minute. After a free kick was awarded and taken by senior Jente Kuper (Ottersberg, Germany), the Eagles found an attempt go into the box and get saved before Heiniger rocketed an attempt and made it 1-1 with only four minutes left on the clock.
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."
The match would head to overtime as the score stayed knotted at one apiece after 90 minutes. In the overtime, both sides pushed hard to keep the momentum on their side. C-N seemed to get the more quality attempts, and even got a little boost of momentum in the 94th minute when LMU player Mariana Diaz was showed two yellow cards, and subsequently a red card for 'unsporting.'
As Diaz was sent off, Wednesday was the first match for C-N to play a match a player up since November 2018 against Tusculum. This is the second SAC match of 2021 where C-N has seen 11 v. 10 action take place. The first instance came against Wingate when Emilee Futrell was sent off in the 77th minute after being shown a direct red card as the Eagles would win that match 1-0 in OT.
Once the final whistle blew, Carson-Newman finished the afternoon with a 25-9 shot advantage including holding five shots on goal compared to three for the Railsplitters. This is the ninth match this season that C-N has outshot their attempts, as they have gone 5-1-2 in the previous eight instances.
"If you were to just look at the stats, it looked like there should have been only one winner today: us. Lincoln Memorial is a very talented team and got us early on off a running play, but we put in more effort and desire to win and it shows in how we came back with Alisa's goal to get the point," Duffy said.
Offensively, Futrell led the way for Carson-Newman as she held five of the 24 combined Eagles shot attempts on the afternoon but could not find one on frame. However, teammate and goal-scorer, Alisha Heiniger, had four shot attempts with two being on goal for her afternoon.
Starting for the Eagles between the pipes would be sophomore Lilly Ebner (Hohentengen, Germany). After coming in during the second half against Shaw, the Germany native got the notch against the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans last Saturday as she collected another win for her 2021 record, moving to 5-2-2 on the year.
Wednesday was all about rebounding for Ebner after she was in net for both losses to LMU during the spring. However, the 2021 version of Eagles and Railsplitters saw Ebner make a pair of saves on the three shots on goal by LMU, including a massive save in the 98th minute to keep the Eagles within striking distance and to send the game to the much needed second overtime period.
Graduate student Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) has been working hard this season to cement her legacy in CNWS program history as much as possible. So far, the Wilson, N.C. native has moved her way into the top-10 for career points (81), goals (33), shots (240), and shots on goal (109).
With her second shot attempt of the match in the 66th minute, Futrell tied former C-N All-American Lauren Wade for the third-most shot attempts by an Eagle with 242. However, Futrell would add three more shot attempts throughout the rest of the match to move herself into sole possession of third-most shot attempts with 245.
"So glad to have Emilee back this year after last year's efforts from her. I love everything I see from her and know she's a competitor when she's on the pitch," Duffy said. "She definitely brings a lot to this team and hopefully we can continue having her get the attempts she wants, and maybe put one in the back of the net soon enough."
All during the 2021 season, it has been Rachel Taylor leading the way for the LMU offense. Wednesday would see another vital part to the Railsplitters offense, the goal-scorer Jessica Cravero, step up and lead her team with three shot attempts including her single shot on goal which was the first goal of the match.
Carson-Newman was able to hold offensive firepower Taylor to a single shot attempt as her attempt would be one of the saves made by Ebner.
In net for Lincoln Memorial was Bente Latenstein, who had started five out of the six previous SAC matches for the Lady Railsplitters. Latenstein played the first 102:31 minutes for LMU, making four saves on the five shots on goal for C-N.
The last 7:29 of game action would see the other LMU goalkeeper, Isabelle Zukaitis, make an appearance as she held C-N scoreless in order to secure the tie and the valuable one point in SAC play.
Carson-Newman will continue their two-game road trip as they prepare for a Saturday night battle with the Newberry Wolves. The Eagles and Wolves will kick off from the Smith Road Complex in Newberry, S.C. on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
"We need to continue the mentality, desire, and competitiveness that we've had in the last couple matches," Duffy said. "I've said it in the past and finally am starting to see it, but we need a fully ninety-minutes of effort from the girls and even if we don't come away with the win at times, we continue playing like we know we can with the talent and depth present."
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.
-CN-
