Feature photo by Vanessa Hamel
Story by Jacob Burgess
It is no surprise that the past few seasons have been a rough stretch for Middle Tennessee soccer.
The team’s last winning season was in 2022 which is also when the Blue Raiders last made the conference tournament, earning a first-round win over Rice University.
The past two seasons saw the team go 2-12-3 in 2023 and winless in conference play during 2022 season, missing out on the playoffs both years.
The Blue Raiders were disappointed with last year’s results to say the least. In the off-season, they chose to put them in the rearview mirror and focus on moving forward with a new group, midfielder Yana Yordanova said.
MTSU soccer’s turnaround isn’t complete yet, with four conference games left in the regular season. MTSU’s third conference win has taken them to nine points in the standings. Holding stake in a three-way tie, most of the team is in uncharted territory.
“A lot of it is maturity in terms of the physical maturity and mental maturity in our players,” coach Aston Rhoden said. “Just last year of 28 players on the roster 20 of them were freshman and sophomores, now when you have that youth it takes time.”
The last two weeks have ended with MTSU finishing 3-1 with a new-look lineup due to injuries and substitutions.
Junior forward Emma Pettersen has been out since Sept. 8, seen on the sidelines with a boot on her foot and crutches. Rhoden has tried a few different solutions before seeming to settle on his lineup.
In the 1-4-5-1 formation, the five-person midfield with the middle triangle is key to moving the ball around for Middle Tennessee. The original three of the mid-field triangle were Hannah Murphy, Megan Carroll, Manon Lebargy with role players subbing in.
The new look lineup has Lebargy moved up to the single striker position with either Murphy or Caroll starting with Yordanova and transfer Rusui Arasaki.
MTSU has scored nine goals since the changes against three C-USA teams with its only loss coming against a New Mexico State team that they held a tie with for almost 88 minutes.
“I think that we are just going to keep scoring more goals every game,” Yordanova said. “I think that our attacking players are doing an amazing job going into the box and everyone is just scoring.”
The past two weeks in conference play have gone better than the past two seasons combined for the Blue Raiders but with a tough few weeks on the horizon, MTSU soccer has its hands full trying to make the conference tournament.
MTSU’s next four games include three against other top teams in C-USA. Rival Western Kentucky comes to Murfreesboro before the team takes road trips to play Sam Houston and Liberty. All three teams are currently in the hunt for a play-off spot.
We have some good games coming up but at the same time we are in a good stride, defender Lauren Spaanstra said on the last four games of the season.
Jacob Burgess is the lead sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
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