MTSU women’s soccer (8-5-3, 3-2-1 CUSA) fell short against New Mexico State University (2-11-3, 1-2-3 CUSA) on Thursday evening, losing 2-1.  

The Blue Raiders fell to an Aggies group that entered as one of the bottom-ranked teams in Conference USA, searching for its first league win of the year and second overall. This is the first time the Blue Raiders hosted the Aggies in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The last time the two teams met was in the 2024 season, where New Mexico State won 1-0. 

 The game opened up with both teams starting off aggressively. The Blue Raiders forced the ball to stay on the Aggies’ side of the field. MTSU tallied six shots in the first half. 

NMSU’s offense was under constant pressure due to MTSU’s aggressiveness in the first half. The Aggies picked up only one shot on MTSU, which was the only goal of the first half. The goal was scored by Meredith Scott and assisted by Milana Eyrich in the 33rd minute.  

New Mexico State was in a constant good position due to seven fouls being called on MTSU in the first half. This played a role in Scott scoring off Eyrich’s pass. The Raiders’ offense was put on hold, which had their aggressive fire put out.  

“We just had to get back to the basics,” Head Coach Aston Rhoden said. “I think we didn’t play as unified as we normally did… we were kind of really individualistic. As the game progressed that hurt us, because that’s not who we are.” 

Opening the second half, the Blue Raiders started again with intense pressure, limiting the Aggies possessions.  

“It was simply about getting back to the game plan, because we didn’t stick to it the first half. Well, we stuck to it, but not as consistently as we should have,” Rhoden said.  

MTSU’s aggressiveness finally paid off in the 68th minute when graduate student Ximena Jauregui scored. 

After the goal, Middle Tennessee held momentum and applied heavy pressure against NMSU as they were constantly rushing towards the ball and pushing the ball down the field. 

 “Normally we’re a lot more patient, and I think our team’s patience typically pulls teams apart, and then we can actually play the way we want,” Rhoden said. “Tonight, it was a transition game that we ended up losing.” 

MTSU’s momentum came to a halt in the 72nd minute, as NMSU’s Jaiden McClellan scored to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead. 

The Blue Raiders and Aggies matchup turned out to be a chippy affair, as MTSU was fouled 12 times, including five in the second half.  

“There’s a lot of people here that didn’t think a lot of things that he thought was a foul… a lot of them kind of left people head scratching, like why is this one a foul and that one isn’t,” Rhoden said. “We don’t pay attention to it, but it does disrupt the flow of the game.” 

NMSU held onto its 2-1 lead as time expired, closing out a physical match between the two teams and sealing a surprising result for the bottom ranked team in Conference USA. 

 “I think we just put a lot of pressure on ourselves.. I guess we didn’t have the resilience at the end,” senior defender Emma Brown said. “We let up 2 silly goals and couldn’t just bounce back from it.”  

Middle Tennessee will host the University of Texas at El Paso for its final home game at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium on Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. for a conference matchup and senior day for the Blue Raiders. 

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