The Blue Raiders traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina Wednesday night to take on No. 4-seeded Charlotte, with MTSU securing a key overtime win to extend their playoff hopes.
The first period started with a great opportunity for the Blue Raiders when they were awarded a penalty kick off of a hand-ball.
Junior defender Emily Jorgenson converted the chance for her third goal of the season. This goal was the first and only penalty kick given to Middle Tennessee all season.
Academic All-Conference awarded-goalie, Kelsey Brouwer, was crucial to the victory as she made as many saves in the first period as the opposing goalie did the entire game (3).
Middle Tennessee’s 1-0 lead stood until Charlotte’s Amanda Jones put the ball in the left corner of the net off of a breakaway rallied by Martha Thomas.
Brouwer bounced back in the second period and held the game close after making five of her eight total saves in this period.
The 1-1 tie game was forced to golden-goal overtime, with the loser being eliminated from C-USA title contention.
Academic All-Conference forward, Tori Hawkins, took a long shot that collided with the crossbar and was sent in by the team’s leading scorer, Grace Summers.
This has been a great year for Summers and multiple others for the Blue Raider women’s soccer team as they continue their C-USA title march.
Grace Summers, Kelsey Brouwer, Angie Lai, Peyton McCollum, Tori Hawkins and Kelsey Branstetter received Conference-USA honors recently.
Summers and Lai were voted C-USA Third-Team All-Conference. Branstetter, Brouwer and Hawkins were all named C-USA Academic All-Conference, and McCollum earned a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
The Blue Raiders made quick adjustments after falling to this same team last Thursday, giving them their first postseason win since switching into Conference-USA.
Middle Tennessee will take on top-seeded North Texas in the conference semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. CT.
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To contact sports editor Connor Grott, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @Connor_Grott