Carson-Newman Women’s Soccer Position Previews: Defenders and Goalkeepers
With just one week until the start of the 2025 Carson-Newman women’s soccer season, it is time for our final position preview with a look at the defenders and goalkeepers with Annika Fend.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With just one week until the start of the 2025 Carson-Newman women's soccer season, it is time for our final position preview with a look at the defenders and goalkeepers with Annika Fend.
Similar to other position groups, Carson-Newman sees just one player graduate in five-year defender Noel Criser. Of the nine defenders on the roster, seven are returning from 2024 and six are in their upperclassmen years. Those seven defenders were part of a defense that allowed just one goal or less in 11 of the 16 games in 2024.
Fend is one of three senior defenders returning with her 30 career starts along the backline, the most of any returning defenders.
"Chemistry is just so important for us in the backline," Fend said. "I think that developed over time last year and really showed. Playing consistently and trying to be there for the team to be reliable and to do the simple things well."
Fellow senior defender Alayna Corbitt (Knoxville, Tenn.) returns after starting in all 15 of Carson-Newman's regular season games in 2024. Playing the third-most minutes on the club, Corbitt led the team in assists with three.
Another key central defender returns in Iris Palsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland). She played extensively as an underclassmen, starting all 29 of her appearances over her first two seasons with C-N.
Joining Palsdottir as a junior returning is Kendall Garber (Quakertown, Pa.) She has made 17 starts in 32 appearances and is coming off a sophomore season in which she made seven of her eight starts came in SAC play. In her eight starts, C-N posted a 4-3-1 record.
"The thing we looked at especially was our communication with the midfield and forwards," Fend said. "As defenders we see the whole pitch in front of us, we see mostly everything that is going on all over the field. I think we've really improved on that last fall and in the spring which is going to help this coming fall."
Carson-Newman has great production returning in its wing backs, led by Karli Pettitt (Kingston, Tenn.). As a sophomore, she tied for the team lead in goals with four, scoring all four at home and in wins. Pettitt also contributed two assists and led the team with her ten total points. She was one of just three Eagles to start and play in every single game in 2024.
Irish Miles (North Augusta, S.C.) made a leap as a junior. Playing in all 16 games, she would record her first two career points, assisting on a pair of goals in a 4-1 win over Union on Sept 7.
Ava Rose (Jackson, Tenn.) rounds out the room. She made 11 appearances in her freshman season.
"They were just creating things on offense which was really important," Fend said. "They were always there to develop something going forward but also coming back always to do a solid job on us three in the back defend. They are really important."
The two additions to the room are freshman Ingibjorg Sigurdardottir and Sifa Morgan. Morgan was a prolific goal scorer at Powell, scoring 68 goals during her four-year career, including 25 as a senior.
Moving over to the goalkeepers, head coach Simon Duffy is fortunate to have an experienced player expected to control the net for the third straight year in Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands). In each of her first two seasons, she has made strides. She recorded more saves, posted a higher save percentage, and doubled her number of clean sheets as a sophomore. Starting in all 16 games, Kabakci made six saves or more on five different occasions.
"I think she has improved a lot since her first day here," Fend said. "She gets more confident on the ball, also with her feet and talking more as well. She was a captain in the spring, which helped her confidence to take on that leadership role within the team. For goalkeepers, confidence is so important. They have a special position on the field, so having that is going to help her continue to be that reliable person back there for us."
Kabakci is joined in the goalkeeper room by returning junior Amber Wilkinson (Gold Coast, Australia) and freshman Olivia Henry (Knoxville, Tenn.).
Wilkinson played in one game as a sophomore, backing up Kabakci. Henry was a two-time All-District goalkeeper for Karns High School and averaged 10 saves per match, saving 80 percent of shots toward goal.
Carson-Newman opens the 2025 season on September 4th, on the road against Union at 3:00 p.m. The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription. Fans can also follow along to @CN_Eagles on X (Twitter) and Instagram for in-game updates.
