Carson-Newman Wins Women’s Soccer Championship With 3-1 Win Over Newberry

NEWBERRY, S.C. - The No. 11 Carson-Newman College women's soccer team (15-2-1, 6-1-1 SAC) scored two goals in the final five minutes of the match to defeat Newberry College (13-4-1, 5-2-1 SAC) by a 3-1 margin Saturday afternoon to win the fifth South Atlantic Conference title in school history.

The Lady Eagles were helped to the league crown by Lenoir-Rhyne University, which upset Tusculum College, 2-1 in overtime in Hickory Saturday.

After a scoreless first half, senior forward Nikki Brannen (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) gave the Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead when she chipped a pass from junior defender Melissa Morris (Sweetwater, Tenn.) past the keeper in the 58th minute.

It looked as if the result would be 1-nil for the visitors, but Newberry equalized with 5:32 left in the contest as Sara Geisman converted a penalty kick for the goal.

Less than a minute and a half later, freshman midfielder Lizeth Munguia (Wilmington, N.C.) received a cross from sophomore forward Trenna Howell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and tapped it in for the 2-1 lead.

Carson-Newman got the insurance goal with just 50 seconds left in the match. After the Lady Eagles were awarded a corner kick, Howell bent the serve in to the net to make the score 3-1.

C-N sophomore Lauren MacKenzie (Barrie, Ontario, CANADA) picked up the win in goal with six saves while Newberry's Emily Rhoades tallied four saves in the losing effort.