Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
MT soccer stars kept the ball rolling in WPSL Summer League
8/9/2018 12:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Summer. A time to gather with family and friends to enjoy what can be seemingly endless days under the sun doing the things most loved.
MTSU soccer stars Peyton DePriest, Madeleine Schricker, Leslie Frye and Sam DeBien had the chance to do that this summer. The quartet rekindled old friendships, gained experience from elder players and even worked alongside current rivals as they kept the ball rolling on the pitches of the Women's Premier Soccer League.
According to its official website, the WPSL is the largest women's soccer league in the world. It consists of over 100 clubs, located in 33 states and Canada. The players consist of top high school, collegiate and even post-collegiate amateur talent from all around the world. Some of the leagues notable alumnae include Alex Morgan, Brandi Chastain and Abby Wombach.
Middle Tennessee was represented on three different teams located in Tennessee and Florida.
Frye, a redshirt freshman, teamed up with rising sophomore DePriest for the Nashville Rhythm.
DePriest, who was recently voted Conference USA's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, also joined forces with former Tennessee Soccer Club teammates from her high school days. Rhythm midfielder Karlie Paschall, a former club teammate of DePriest's, reached out to her to see if she'd join. The Franklin native jumped at the opportunity to join forces with some of her old friends while also getting to meet some new faces and play alongside a current teammate. She motored 30 minutes up Interstate 65 in late May for the start of the two-month season.
"It was fun really fun playing with such different people, and a lot of my teammates from TSC came back and played," DePriest said. "(We) clicked so well so early, in just the timeframe of the summer."
"It was great to play with Leslie, too. I think it was a good transition period for her."
Things come easy to those who enjoy what they do, and kicking the ball around with the girls she grew up with translated to more success on the field for Middle Tennessee's 5-foot-6 forward.
By the end of the season's first week, DePriest racked up three goals on her way to a Southeast Conference Player of the Week award against some of the Southeast's premier women's soccer standouts.
"I thought it was pretty good competition," DePriest said. "It was hard to adjust so quickly and play good soccer, but I think all the other teams we played had good competition."
After taking a redshirt her freshman year due to injury, Frye was excited just to be able to get back onto the field again for the first time since her days at Lincoln County High School.
"It felt really good to play soccer again," she said. "For me, it was just a really good experience to get back on the field and try to get back in shape."
Some parts of the college game came to the defender at a tougher clip than others, but Frye said the transition to the collegiate game has been a good one. The added benefit of playing with a current teammate and former club teammates helped her battle through the humid Tennessee summer afternoons to get back into soccer shape, too.
"I really wanted to focus on getting in shape (this summer)," Frye said. "I feel like over the summer I've gotten quicker and into better shape and accomplished my goals."
The plethora of experience up and down the Rhythm roster payed huge dividends in helping the teenage duo from MTSU. The average age of the roster is 23, including eight post-collegiate aged players, one of which is former MTSU soccer player Kerri Cook's older sister Kiyomi, who played at Oregon.
"They were confident and were such good leaders," DePriest said of the older players. "Even though a lot of us were six or seven years younger than them, they really communicated (with us) well during the games and didn't think twice to tell us what to do."
Down along the Georgia state line, DeBien played for her hometown club, as well. The Cleveland, Tennessee, native was a key piece of the puzzle for Chattanooga FC en route to winning the Southeast Conference regular-season title and advancing to the South Region Championship semifinal game.
DeBien actually had the chance to face off with DePriest and Frye in a home-and-home series against the Rhythm. The first game was a 2-1 Chattanooga FC win in Chattanooga's Finley Stadium, and the second was a 1-0 Chattanooga win at Father Ryan High School in Nashville.
"It was cool getting to play against Peyton and Leslie and getting to see them," DeBien said. "I loved every minute of it."
DeBien actually got the chance to play with one of her former college coaches -- yes, you read that right -- in teammate Carlie Banks.
"Carlie Banks coached me when I was in high school, so it was kind of crazy that we were teammates," DeBien chuckled. "I was so inspired by (the older players) and I look up to them and I learned a lot from them."
Just like Frye, DeBien is still recovering from an injury. After tearing nearly every ligament in her knee in 2016, she gained confidence by bettering herself in one-one-one situations and improving her overall fitness level over the summer.
"I wanted to play summer ball so that I could get back into (playing games) and see some of the girls I used to see (growing up)," DeBien said. "Some of my goals were to improve my fitness and to be confident in myself when I'm taking girls one-on-one. I used to choke when I'd try to beat a girl on the dribble, but I've definitely improved in those areas this summer and gained confidence in my abilities."
Schricker rejoined the Florida Krush for the sixth summer in a row. It was her third summer with the WPSL's Krush after spending the previous three with the Krush's youth organization.
Although it was her third year at the WPSL level, Schricker saw in-game action for the first time after just practicing with the team the past two summers.
Unlike her Blue Raider teammates to the northwest, the Titusville, Florida, native didn't have any teammates she played with in high school. She had to face off with one of her closest friends growing up: high school teammate and Florida Gulf Coast midfielder Kyra Kyramarios.
The blonde-headed ladies did battle on June 9 in Winter Park, Florida, when Kyramarios' Florida Gulf Coast Dutch Lions defeated Schricker and the Krush 1-0.
"(Playing Kyramarios) was really fun," Schricker said. "It was different being against a friend, but it was fun."
Schricker even proved, if for only a two-month summer span, Blue Raiders and Hilltoppers can put their 100 miles of hate on hold and work together.
"I played with one of the girls from WKU (Nicole Roseland), so getting to play alongside one of my rivals was really cool," Schricker said.
Rest assured, the time spent with old friends and new rivals under the hot summer sun will help the Lady Raiders keep the ball rolling right on into the shortened fall nights under the lights at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium.
Anthony Fiorella is a student writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
