Jefferson City, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's soccer (1-1, 1-1 SAC) has seen previous success against Mars Hill (0-2, 0-2 SAC), and Thursday was no different. The Eagles took an early lead and never looked back as they rack up the 6-0 victory to get into the 2021 win column under Simon Duffy.
It's becoming routine for C-N to score early and often as they have done so two weeks in a row. This time, sophomore Makayla Garner (Fort Mill, S.C.) scored her first goal in 2021 off a shot deflection by senior Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.). Junior Jente Kuper (Otterburg, Germany) was the one who put the ball in the box for C-N before Garner had a chance to shoot, but ultimately cleared up Futrell's shot after Mars Hill was able to partially block it.
With Garner and Mathes scoring, the Eagles now hold a 13-1 and 14-0-1 record when sophomore and junior scores. Unlike last week, the Eagles are also now 15-1 when leading at half and 21-1-0 when scoring the first goal.
"Tonight was a different story for us after last week," head coach Simon Duffy said. "I think we know what we can do and if we have the same intensity as we had through all 90 minutes, we are dangerous."
The Eagles then kept the pressure on Mars Hill as they compiled multiple chances at goal, but junior Lira Mathes (Knoxville, Tenn.) it wasn't until junior Lira Mathes (Knoxville, Tenn.) headed in a phenomenal pass to double the Eagles lead. Very shortly after, Mathes notched her second goal on the night to make the halftime lead 3-0 for Carson-Newman.
52 seconds into the second half, Garner collected her second goal on the game which pushed the Eagle lead to an imposing 4-0. Very shortly after, freshman Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) made her mark on the match, kicking in a nice cross to start her collegiate scoring as an Eagle.
Freshman Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) started her Eagles career with another impressive game. She netted her first career goal in the 52nd minute off the assist from fellow freshman Abbie Zander (Baneberry, Tenn.) Almost 30 minutes later, another freshman wrote their name in the 2021 stats as Marta De Zanger (Barcelona, Spain) found the back of the net in the 85th minute to close out the game for sure.
"You and I talked about intensity and I think this team showed it tonight. We never gave up momentum and made sure we controlled every minute," Duffy said. "I think if we can build upon this, we can continue making progress and make a run for the rest of our games."
In the first half, the Eagles had multiple phenomenal efforts as they outshot the Lions by a margin of 13-1. In the first half, the Eagles also attempted five corner kicks while MHU was held without one attempt in that regard.
The second half was the same story for both teams, as C-N built on their margins and made sure the game was never in question. The Eagles attempted another 10 shots in the second half while the Lions tripled their total which made their game total four, which is twice as many as they had last week.
The second half also saw the debut of sophomore transfer goalkeeper Hope Doyle (Harrison, Ohio) as she played the final 30:44 of action in replacement of Lilly Ebner (Hohentengen, Germany).
"Tusculum is a tough team and I know they will give us a tough matchup," Mathes said. "I think this team is capable of having this type of performance night in and night out but it takes the whole team to compete."
The Eagles have seen great previous success from matchups with Mars Hill, as they have outscored the Lions 41-6 in their previous 11 matchups. After tonight's contest, the margin now spreads to 47-6 in favor of C-N.
Next week, C-N is on the road for the first time this season as they travel to battle the Tusculum Pioneers (1-0-1, 1-0-1 SAC) on Thursday, March 11. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. from Pioneer Field.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman women's soccer at cneagles.com and on all social media accounts.
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