Photo by Sarah Grace Taylor / editor in Chief
Middle Tennessee soccer battled Rice down to the final minutes in a Friday night thriller inside Dean A. Hayes Stadium. Goalkeeper Celeste Barnard recorded a season-high eight saves, but the Raiders weren’t able to fend off a goal in the 86th minute to give Rice the win, 2-1 .
Rice showed dominance throughout the matchup, ending the game with 23 shots, 11 of which were on goal.
The Blue Raider defense had their backs against the wall all night but were still able to stop all nine of the Owl’s corner kicks.
As for MTSU’s offensive attack, it was just the opposite. While the offense statistically made 25 percent of their shots Friday night, the team disappeared in the second half. The team was only able to get up four shots all night, all of which came in the first 45 minutes. Of those four, 2 were on goal.
With zero penalty kicks, MTSU had to scrap to get on the board.
The Blue Raiders recorded their lone goal at a much needed time in the 38th minute when freshman standout Selera Jordan sent a pass to Kerri Cook in the box who chipped it in the net to tie the ball game 1-1.
MTSU will look to get their offense going Sunday when they take on UTEP in the home finale. Game time for Senior Day is set for 2 p.m.
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To contact Sports Editor Tyler Lamb (@Tlamb35), email sports@mtsusidelines.com.
