Thursday, March 23, 2023

Blue Raiders fall short 2-1 against ETSU

Date:

Share post:

Story by Quenterious Mabone / Contributing Writer

The Blue Raider women’s soccer team looked to wrap up their four-game homestand on a positive note, but their late push fell just short to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Friday.

The Blue Raiders trailed 1-0 in the first half, but the Buccaneers continued their run by scoring a crucial goal to go up 2-0. Looking to respond, the Blue Raiders finally got on the board late in the second half, trailing 2-1. Despite multiple opportunities to score over the final 10 minutes of play, the Blue Raiders ran out of time, handing them their third loss of the season.

“We got to do a better job of keeping the ball, maintaining our composure,” said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Aston Rhoden. “I think that the second half was a more physical game. We stood our ground, and we had a lot of fouls that we received and probably should have done better with as far as free kicks and such that we need to improve on.”

The Buccaneers and Blue Raiders battled back-and-forth through the early parts of the game, keeping the game scoreless halfway through the opening frame. At the 43:23-mark, Buccaneer Kyra Ranvek scored a goal off an assist from her fellow teammates Taylor Limprevil and Lindsey Cook to put the Buccaneers up 1-0 heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Blue Raiders attempted six shots but none of them would go in the goal, leading to the Buccaneer Kyra Ranvek scoring her second goal of the night off an assist from Momoko Horiuchi to take a commanding 2-0 lead at the 65-minute mark. The Blue Raiders finally got a spark at the 78-minute mark from senior Peyton DePriest, who drew a foul in the penalty box to earn a penalty kick attempt that connected to put the scoreboard at 2-1.

The goal from DePriest, fresh off her record setting performance on Sunday, made it her 51st career goal for the C-USA all-time leader, but the celebration didn’t end the way she was

hoping for. Despite a late push to tie the game up, the Blue Raiders fell just short to the Buccaneers, putting their record at (3-3-1).

The Blue Raiders head to Nashville for a matchup against the reigning SEC champion, Vanderbilt Commodores, for a Music City matchup at 7 p.m. on Sunday at Vanderbilt Soccer/Lacrosse Complex.

Related articles

Middle Tennessee crashes the glass in 62-58 victory

Featured Photo by Reggie Johnson Story by Calvin White Behind arguably Tyler Millin’s best performance as a Blue Raider, Middle...

Chaos with Conference Realignment

Story by Adam Brown / Contributing Writer Conference Realignment has shaken the makeup of College Athletics, and the chain...

Fantasy Football Corner Week 4

Story by Jayce Standridge / Contributing Writer Week three was much needed for some owners as we finally saw...

Fantasy Football Corner Week Three

Story by Jayce Standridge / Contributing Writer Week two is in the books, and some teams are showing off...