• Wed, 11/02 | Women's Soccer at Lenoir-Rhyne L, 2-1 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 10/29 | Women's Soccer at Newberry L, 5-2 (Final) BX | RC
  • Wed, 10/26 | Women's Soccer vs. Tusculum L, 3-0 (Final) RC | PH
  • Sat, 10/22 | Women's Soccer at Mars Hill W, 3-1 (Final) BX | RC
  • Tue, 10/18 | Women's Soccer vs. Pfeiffer W, 3-0 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 10/15 | Women's Soccer vs. Wingate L, 1-0 (Final) BX | RC
  • Wed, 10/12 | Women's Soccer at Lander L, 2-1 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 10/08 | Women's Soccer at Catawba L, 2-0 (Final) BX | RC
  • Wed, 10/05 | Women's Soccer vs. Lincoln Memorial T, 0-0 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 10/01 | Women's Soccer at North Georgia L, 3-2 (Final) BX | RC
  • Tue, 09/27 | Women's Soccer vs. Lenoir-Rhyne L, 2-1 (Final) BX | BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 09/24 | Women's Soccer at Anderson (S.C.) L, 1-0 (Final) BX | RC
  • Wed, 09/21 | Women's Soccer vs. Milligan W, 3-1 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Mon, 09/19 | Women's Soccer vs. Lees-McRae L, 1-0 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 09/17 | Women's Soccer vs. Brevard W, 5-0 (Final) BX | RC
August 26, 2009

Lady Eagles Look to Carry Momentum from Last Season into 2009

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Last season's success will be difficult to duplicate for the Carson-Newman women's soccer team, but Lady Eagle coach Phil McNamara enters the 2009 season with plenty of optimism about his squad.

The Lady Eagles open the season on Thursday at home against King at 7 p.m. C-N returns seven preseason All-South Atlantic Conference selections and will begin the season as the favorite to repeat as conference champion.

"We are excited about the season," said McNamara, whose team went 16-6-1 last season after winning both the SAC regular season and tournament titles and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. "The girls have already put in a good amount of preseason work."

"They know we have a very, very competitive schedule this year. There is no game that we can look to on the schedule and categorize it as a win. Hopefully, that will prepare us for a run into our conference tournament, and with enough wins in there we can get a berth into the NCAA Tournament."

For the Lady Eagles to have a repeat of last season's success, they must grind through a schedule full of solid competition, including four participants from last year's NCAA tournament and defending NAIA national champion Lee University.

McNamara said he will find out what his team is made of early on, as it will go through a brutal four-match stretch from Sept. 11-20 in Georgia, which includes matches against Lynn, Georgia College, Tampa and West Georgia.

"Out of conference we have two brutal weekends down in the Atlanta area," McNamara said. "That could be two back-to-back difficult weekends, but they will be a good challenge for us. It's important for a team as young as ours to get that experience early in the year before we move into our conference play."

Despite his squad being picked to repeat as SAC champions, McNamara said it will be even more challenging for the Lady Eagles to get back to the conference finals this season with several new teams expected to jump into the mix.

"The conference is going to be very interesting because we are very young," said McNamara, who enters his eighth season at the helm of the Lady Eagle program. "There are a few teams that I'm interested to see how they will be this year. I think there are a few different teams that will challenge this year other than the usual contenders. I believe the conference is wide open."

Leading the Lady Eagles this season will be seven preseason all-conference selections.

Junior defender Melissa Morris (Sweetwater, Tenn.), sophomore defender Katie Hunter (Mississauga, Ontario) and sophomore goalkeeper Lauren MacKenzie were first team selections, while junior forward Morgan Gruenenfelder (Sweetwater, Tenn.), sophomore forward Trenna Howell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), senior forward Nikki Brennan (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and senior defender Jessie Stephens (Knoxville, Tenn.) were named to the second team.

"We've got some quality players returning," McNamara said. "I think anyone would tell you that we were down on talent last year and down on numbers, and really we had remarkable success last year. Our success outweighed our overall ability, so last year was a bonus. We will use that momentum towards pushing this team forward this year."

Morris, a first team All-SAC and first team Daktronics All-Southeast Region performer in 2008, scored two goals in 16 starts and anchored a C-N defense that produced seven shutouts.

Hunter earned second team All-SAC honors for her efforts on a stellar Lady Eagle defense.

MacKenzie returns after a solid freshman campaign in goal for the Lady Eagles as she garnered first team All-SAC and SAC Freshman of the Year honors. She was second in the conference in shutouts (six) and save percentage (.810) and third in the SAC in saves (81) and goals against average (1.15).

"She was one of the keys to our success last season," McNamara said of MacKenzie.

Gruenenfelder, Howell and Brannen will provide C-N with a solid combination at the forward position.

Gruenenfelder, a second team All-SAC performer in 2008, tallied eight goals last season, including three match-winning goals. She also dished out three assists.

Howell started 15 matches and led the Lady Eagles and was fourth in the conference in goals scored (13) and points (29).

Brannen returns after sitting out last season with an injury. She was a second team All-SAC performer in 2007 as she led the Lady Eagles with 11 goals.

Stephens played a pivotal role on the Lady Eagles defense last season and helped it produce seven shutouts.

Sophomore midfielder Maggie Alexander (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), junior defender Brianna Buckley (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and senior goalkeeper Shannon Clancy (Toronto, Canada) will all provide C-N with much needed experience this season.

With just 10 returning players from last year's roster, McNamara added eight more players in his 2009 signing class, and several of them will be expected to provide quality minutes for the Lady Eagles this season.

"We are excited about this class," McNamara said. "We feel like there are some players that can play right away. Everyone starts the year off fresh, and it's anyone's game as to who is going to start."

Carson-Newman College Athletic Department | 2130 S. Branner Ave. | Jefferson City, TN 37760

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