CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Clayton State (2-5, 0-3 PBC) took an early lead but could not hold off a powerful No. 9 Carson-Newman (7-0-1, 3-0-1 SAC) squad as they fell by a narrow 2-1 score in an NCAA Division II women's soccer game on Wednesday, September 27.
 
The Lakers would come out strong against one of the toughest opponents on their schedule this season. In the fifth minute, senior forward Iciar Duran (Madrid, Spain) found freshman midfielder Jana Lennartz (Nideggen, Germany) for her first career goal, making it 1-0 at the 4:16 mark.
 
Clayton State would hold that lead for the next 24 minutes before CNU would respond with a bang-bang play. Lara Hallgrimsdottir and Lauren Wade got the ball to Averi Williams who proceeded to deliver the equalizer at 28:34. That 1-1 score would then hold until half.
 
That defensive mind set would continue deep into the second half as neither team could break the deadlock over the first 24 minutes. That would change in the 25^th minute, however, as Wade and Kristina Markfort teamed to get the ball to Holly Talbut-Smith. The latter would get the ball at the corner of the 18 yard box and flip it past charging redshirt-senior goalkeeper Jessica Charman (Harefield, England) for a 2-1 lead.
 
That would be the only one that Carson-Newman would be able to get past her in the second half. It concluded what had been an offensive onslaught by the Eagles as they recorded 10 shots in the second half, including several back-to-back. On the flipside, the Lakers had recorded one of their two second half shots in the first 25 minutes. The other would come in the 89^th minute but would go high to allow CNU to escape with a narrow 2-1 victory.
 
Talbut-Smith and Williams collected a goal apiece for the Eagles while Wade had a pair of assists. Hallgrimsdottir rounded out the offense with an assist. Jacqueline Burns played all 90 minutes in goal, making one save and allowing the lone goal to improve to 7-0-1 on the year.
 
While Clayton State was held to four shots, they managed to put half of those on net. Included among them was the first career goal by Lennartz. Baquerizo notched a pair with the other coming from senior forward Erika Gurnsey (Wichita, Kansas). Charman went the distance, stopping four balls and allowing a pair of scores to drop to 2-5.
 
The Lakers return to action on Saturday, September 30 when they head to Francis Marion to resume Peach Belt Conference action. Game time is set for 3 p.m. in Florence, South Carolina.
 
NOTES
The meeting between the teams was the first since a 6-1 Carson-Newman victory in Jefferson City, Tennessee on September 3, 2006 … it was the first time the teams had played at a neutral site … overall, the Eagles hold a 5-3 advantage in a series that dates to 1998 … the two goals scored by CNU equaled a season low (four times) while the one goal margin was the first of the year for the Eagles … it was the Lakers fifth straight game with a one goal margin dating to their 1-0 win over The Citadel on September 10.