Lady Eagles Report to Preseason Camp
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman women's soccer team reported to fall camp on Friday as the preseason favorite to win the South Atlantic Conference title for a second
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman women's soccer team
reported to fall camp on Friday as the preseason favorite to win
the South Atlantic Conference title for a second
With seven preseason All-SAC selections on the roster, Lady Eagle
coach Phil McNamara has plenty of reason for optimism heading into
the 2009 season.
"We are extremely excited," said McNamara, who enters his eighth
season at the helm of the Lady Eagle program. "It's been a long
layover between seasons. The girls look healthy and will hopefully
look healthy by the end of next week."
"We've got a very strong schedule. We want to be careful that we
don't put to much pressure on ourselves, being the preseason
favorites to win the conference and having seven players returning
as all-conference selections."
The Lady Eagles had 18 players report to camp, including defenders
Melissa Morris (Sweetwater, Tenn.) and Katie Hunter (Mississauga,
Ontario) and goalkeeper Lauren MacKenzie, who were preseason first
team All-SAC selections. Forwards Morgan Gruenenfelder (Sweetwater,
Tenn.), Trenna Howell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and Nikki Brannen (Soddy
Daisy, Tenn.) and defender Jessie Stephens (Knoxville, Tenn.) were
named to the second team.
"Overall we are excited about the returners," McNamara said. "We
are eager to get the new players in and get them familiar with our
system and our requirements at this level. We will just keep
working hard and hope to improve on a daily basis and see how far
we can drive this team forward."
The Lady Eagles will begin practice on Aug. 10 and will open the
season at home against King on Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.
C-N won both the SAC regular season and SAC Tournament titles in
2008. The Lady Eagles finished the year 16-6-1 and advanced to the
NCAA Tournament Round of 16.
