ROCK HILL, S.C. -
Kennedy Flowers picked a good day to notch her first career brace. The redshirt junior netted the first and final goal in a 3-1 win over Carson-Newman to send Lenoir-Rhyne to its third SAC Championship game in four years.
Tied 1-1 at the half,
Landry Boyles ended up netting the game winning goal with a volley in the box in the 62nd minute.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: (2) Lenoir-Rhyne 3, (3) Carson-Newman 1
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (12-6-1, 7-3-0 SAC), Carson-Newman (8-4-7, 4-2-4 SAC)
Location: Matthews, N.C. | Matthews Sportsplex
STORY OF THE MATCH:
- Lenoir-Rhyne went up just four minutes in, with Kennedy Flowers heading in an Isabella Zicchinolfi corner kick.
- Carson-Newman used that goal as motivation, pushing the ball forward and eventually tying the game with a goal in the 36th minute.
- Brady Livingston saw a chance hit the post just a minute later and the teams went into halftime knotted up at one.
- Lenoir-Rhyne out-shot Carson-Newman 6-2 in the second half, with five of those shots being on goal.
- Landry Boyles netted her second goal of the season in the 62nd minute. A a punch out by the goalie bounced in Boyles' direction and she fired in a rocket to put LR up 2-1.
- Flowers and Aly Ramsey had some nice passing before Ramsey's final ball opened up space for Flowers, who converted it to put the game out of reach.
STATS OF THE MATCH:
- This game featured just 12 fouls and no cards.
- Lenoir-Rhyne out-shot Carson-Newman 9-5 and held a 6-3 edge in shots-on-goal.
- Kennedy Flowers led the team with four shots, three of which were on goal.
- Riley Miller made two saves in net.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- On October 7th, Lenoir-Rhyne was 5-6-0 following a 1-0 loss to Catawba. Since then, the Bears have gone 7-0-1 with that lone tie being against No. 18 North Georgia, who will be taking on Columbus State in the PBC Championship.
- The Bears are now 31-13-4 all-time against the Eagles and 7-4-1 in conference tournament play.
- Lenoir-Rhyne has not lost to Carson-Newman since a 1-0 defeat in 2018.
- Kennedy Flowers, who was just named to the All-SAC Third Team, now has seven career goals.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will take on No. 1 seeded and No. 18 ranked Catawba in the conference championship. The Catawba Indians, who defeated Wingate 2-0 in the other semi-final, are 13-4-2 (8-1-1 SAC) and fighting for a chance to host an NCAA Regional next week. Lenoir-Rhyne holds a 5-4-1 lead over Catawba in the conference tournament, with the Bears defeating the Catawba Indians in pks to take home the 2023 SAC Tournament title. The game is scheduled for 4:00 on Sunday afternoon in Matthews.
