First SAC road trip sends C-N to Coker
September 19, 2025

First SAC road trip sends C-N to Coker

Carson-Newman (3-2, 0-1 SAC) begins a three-game road stretch tomorrow afternoon as it heads to Hartsville, South Carolina for a matchup against Coker (3-1-1, 0-0 SAC) at Coker’s Athletic Field.

VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Coker Sept 2024 Highlights

VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Coker Sept 2024 Full Broadcast Replay

C-N Match Notes (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (3-2, 0-1 SAC) begins a three-game road stretch tomorrow afternoon as it heads to Hartsville, South Carolina for a matchup against Coker (3-1-1, 0-0 SAC) at Coker's Athletic Field.

Carson-Newman saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, falling 2-0 to #11 Catawba. Prior to the loss, C-N had outscored its opponents. The Eagles will try to bounce back effectively, as they did after their first loss of this season. Head coach Simon Duffy's team dominated North Greenville 4-1 after losing the season opener to Union. After having just one multi-game losing streak over from 2019-2023, C-N had two last season both of which came during conference action.

Under Coach Duffy, C-N has been one of the more competitive teams in the conference. The Eagles are 51-21-10 in league play since he arrived in 2017 with 24 of those wins coming on the road.

An interesting note heading into Saturday's match. Carson-Newman has won its sixth game of a season in each of the last nine years. Tomorrow's game is the sixth of this 2025 season.

For the first time since 2022, Carson-Newman swept the South Atlantic Conference's Weekly awards, seeing Molly Bukiewicz (Beavercreek, OH) win offensive player of the week and Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands) win defensive player of the week. Both weekly honors were the first of their careers. Bukiewicz is the first Eagle to score in three straight games since Magda Mosengo scored in three straight games during postseason play in 2018. The graduate student's four goals this season are tied for the most in the SAC and rank sixth nationally. Kabakci leads the SAC in saves with 24 and ranks 15th nationally. Her 0.50 goals against average mark is third in the league and 36th nationally as well.

Carson-Newman will try and extend its nine-game winning streak versus Coker. During the stretch, the Eagles have outscored the Cobras 42-2, with one of Coker's two goals coming in last year's meeting in Jefferson City. All-time, the Eagles are 10-4-1 against the Cobras and have won four straight meetings in Hartsville.

Coker was selected to finish just below Carson-Newman in the South Atlantic Conference's Preseason Coaches' poll, slotting in at number seven. After winning a program-best nine games in 2024, Coker has carried that momentum in this season. Its only setback came after a 1-0 home-opening win over Barton. USC Beaufort went to Hartsville and left with a 2-0 victory.

However, the Cobras have responded well and enter Saturday's match on a three-game unbeaten streak. It started with a 13-0 rout of Allen, a game that saw Coker break its program-record for goals in a game. A win over Auburn Montgomery followed and earlier this week, tied with USC Aiken.

The Cobras are set to begin conference play and are also coming off their best season in the SAC in program history. Their five SAC wins in 2024 were the most in program history as well. Coker has won two of its past three conference home openers and has shutouts in both of those wins.

On the topic of shutouts, Coker has been one of the top teams in the SAC in that category early in the year. The two goals allowed are third-fewest in the league and came in the same game. It has clean sheets in the other four games, tied for second-most in the SAC this year.

Offensively, head coach Michael Donald has many different options. Alexis Spivey stands out as the conference's leader in assists with five. Isabella Rychel and Ella Wilke lead the team with three goals each, while seven others have scored at least one as well.

First touch in Hartsville, South Carolina is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports.

 

 

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