Jefferson City, Tenn.----Junior forward Nikki Brannen (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) scored a goal and added an assist to lead the eighth-ranked Carson-Newman women's soccer team past Wingate, 2-0, in South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday night at McCown Field.

With the win, the Eagles improve to 12-1-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the SAC. The Bulldogs fall to 9-2-3 and 2-2-1 in conference play.

"Wingate is a good team, and we knew that coming in," C-N head coach Phil McNamara said. "I think we showed the focused tonight that we knew would be required to beat a good conference opponent. Intensity-wise and tempo-wise, we were right on the button. I felt we got a good response from the players and was very, very pleased with the way we played."

"There were a few different players that stepped up tonight and played really well. I thought Brianna Buckley (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) had a great night, as did Sandra Kaelin (Trachau, Switzerland). It was just a great performance from pretty much every player."

C-N outshot Wingate 12-6, including a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Lady Eagles sophomore goalkeeper Lauren MacKenzie (Barrie, Ontario) tallied one save to pick up the win, while Wingate's Miriam Boucher (Calgary, Alberta) finished the match with five saves and two goals allowed.

Brannen put C-N on the board early in the match. She finished off a cross from Andrea Saevik (Bolandet, Norway) in the 14th minute to give the Lady Eagles a 1-nil lead. Neither team threatened the remainder of the half, as there were just three shots attempted, all of which were by C-N.

Freshman Lizeth Munguia (Wilmington, N.C.) put the match out of reach in the 78th minute when she placed the ball in the back of the net on a header to give C-N a 2-0 lead. Brannen was credited with the assist on the goal.

The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday night, traveling to Lenoir-Rhyne for a 7 p.m. story. The Eagles return to the pitch on Tuesday at home in a SAC matchup against Lincoln Memorial. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.