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.
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."
