JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Double overtime and a few seconds from a tie, Carson-Newman (0-1, 0-0 SAC) women's soccer face heartbreak against Lincoln Memorial (1-0, 1-0 SAC) as the Railsplitters come away with the sneaky 2-1 victory in double overtime. Rachel Taylor was the difference maker for LMU as she got behind the Eagles defense and scored the game-winner in double overtime with only 24.2 second left on the clock.
This marks the first time an Eagles program has lost in double overtime since October 9, 2014 when Lincoln Memorial made a game winning-goal to take the victory 4-3 at McCown Field on that day. Since Duffy took over in 2017, the Eagles have now lost three straight season openers and have now lost at home for the first time under the head coach. Other notable stats impeded by Thursday's results are this is now the first time C-N has lost when scoring the first goal (20-1-0), Eagles now hold a 4-1-0 record when a freshman scores, are 1-4-1 when being outshot by an opponent, and are 14-1-0 when leading at the half.
"I thought we battled hard but lacked technically today. I think we should have passed along after scored and got the ball into more dangerous areas," head coach Simon Duffy said. "Everytime we play, especially here, it's an absolute game and we just need to get better in every area of the field. We need to be clinical in various areas especially in front of goal."
Freshman Abbie Zander (Baneberry, Tenn.) got the scoring started early for Carson-Newman as she notched her first collegiate goal in the 14th minute thanks to a timely assist by fellow freshman Molly Bukiewicz (Beavercreek, Ohio). Zander and Bukiewicz were part of a fantastic five freshman who started their Eagles career as starters on Thursday. Other freshman beyond the starters were Marta De Zanger (Barcelona, Spain) and Misha Wolters.
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Looking at the final statistics, Lincoln Memorial outshot the Eagles by a margin of 17-12 while holding the 14-9 advantage through regulation. C-N took more corners than the Railsplitters, but neither team could use those opportunities to score. Each team had four saves on the night while LMU was more foul-friendly as they racked up a total of 13 to the Eagles having nine.
"Managing moments of the game, such as after scoring. I'm hoping we show a little bit more character over this next week ahead of Mars Hill," Duffy stated. "It's an unusual season we're in right now with a young squad but we need to have a little bit more intensity throughout a game."
Senior Kate Zander (Baneberry, Tenn.) made her debut as an Eagle Thursday, oddly enough against her former team in LMU. She played all 119:36 minutes while having a couple of key plays which gave the Eagles the chance to stay close throughout the game. She and her sister, Abbie, connected on a couple moments during the second half but could not push anything across to push the team to victory.
Meanwhile, C-N had a new face in goal in freshman Lilly Ebner (Hohentengen, Germany). Ebner was the goalie for the entirety of action, making four shots on the 17 shots she faced and allowing no goals off corner kicks by LMU. Most of the shots Ebner faced came from the foot of Jessica Cravero, first-team preseason All-SAC selection, who came away with eight shots on the night with four shots falling on goal.
The highlight of the overtime period for Carson-Newman came by none other than senior Emilee Futrell. Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) had an attempt early in the second overtime which almost gave the Eagles a walk-off victory but was denied by Lincoln Memorial's Manu Costa who was a crucial part to the game being close on many occasions. Futrell tallied three shots on the night with one on goal while playing a total of 79 minutes for the Eagles.
"From back to front, we had a lot of players who are still learning the system. If they didn't know it before, tonight gave them a quick taste of true collegiate competition," Duffy stated. "I'm hoping we can use tonight to better ourselves and get better for our next match and this whole season."
The Eagles will be back in action next Thursday, March 4, as the Mars Hill Lions pay Mossy Creek a visit for a 5:00 p.m. kickoff from McCown Field. The event will be carried and broadcasted via cneagles.com/live.
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