Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Bonham Leads Raiders Past UTSA in Conference Opener
9/22/2019 5:01:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Bonham earns first career hat trick
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Freshman MacKenzie Bonham earned herself a hat trick as she led the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders past Conference USA foe UTSA on Sunday afternoon at Park West Athletic Complex in a 4-3 win. The back and forth win snaps a five-match skid for the Raiders and the gives their first win over UTSA in series history. The Raiders improve to 4-5-0 (1-0-0 C-USA).
"The team showed some grit, tenacity and fight in a front of a great UTSA crowd which was right behind our bench," said head coach Aston Rhoden. "It was a great road win against a good UTSA team that we have not defeated yet, so I'm proud of the team on how they responded to adversity. I was very happy for Kenzie (Bonham) in her first start and for her first goals as a Blue Raider. She played well and was exactly where she needed to be. We have told her she needs to take her shot and well she made a quality goal from outside the box."
Raider's big road win began as planned: with an early 1-0 lead thanks to Peyton DePriest. The forward returns in perfect time as she slid past Roadrunner defenders and knocked in her sixth goal of the season.
About 20' goes by before the Roadrunners find an opportunity and Abby Kassal converts to even the score up at 1-1 heading into the half. The Raiders are 2-2 this season with the match knotted at 45'.
Quickly out of the break, UTSA (4-3-1, 0-1-0 C-USA) took their first lead (2-1) of the match in the 49' by Deja Sandoval with assists from Ellis Patterson.
Making her first start and first goal of her career, MacKenzie Bonham found her chance as she equalized with a goal in the 58th minute off a corner.
"I was excited but nervous to get my first start plus it was a conference game, so it was a big deal," said freshman MacKenzie Bonham. "The first goal I needed to get across the goal and I just took advantage of the opportunity I got."
Again, UTSA responds and takes the 3-2 lead with about 20 minutes left in the match.
The Raiders and Bonham strapped up their cleats and put their heads forward looking to tie it up. With time climbing down under a minute, MT scrambled for any opportunity the Roadrunners would give. They did just that. With exactly :36 seconds left in the match, the Raiders got a chance in the Roadrunner box thanks to beautiful free kick from Carolin Engelhard.
"The second goal Carolin Engelhard placed the ball right in the box for us with under a minute to go and the ball came to my foot and I just tapped it in to tie it up, said MacKenzie Bonham."
The ball bounced around the box but a somehow the ball landed at Bonham feet and she used her right foot to punch it in forcing the first overtime period this season for the Raiders.
In the beginning of the OT, UTSA dominated possession and earned themselves three-straight corners. The Raiders countered the last corner and worked the ball across the field. Hannah Tillett found MacKenzie Bonham in space on the left side and she fired a tremendous shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced in for the golden goal win.
"On the third goal, the coaches always told me to shoot and so I shot," said Bonham.
RECORD WATCH
Junior forward Peyton DePriest is now 5th all-time in program history with 30 career goals scored. She is just nine goals shy of breaking the all-time record which is currently held by Holly Grogan with 38 goals scored. Be sure to continue watching as DePriest makes some history.
UP NEXT
Big game coming up for the Blue Raiders as they host Rice at Dean Hayes Stadium on Thursday, September 26th at 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE BLUE
Twitter: @MT_Soccer
Facebook: Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Womens Soccer
Instagram: @MT_WSoccer
"The team showed some grit, tenacity and fight in a front of a great UTSA crowd which was right behind our bench," said head coach Aston Rhoden. "It was a great road win against a good UTSA team that we have not defeated yet, so I'm proud of the team on how they responded to adversity. I was very happy for Kenzie (Bonham) in her first start and for her first goals as a Blue Raider. She played well and was exactly where she needed to be. We have told her she needs to take her shot and well she made a quality goal from outside the box."
Raider's big road win began as planned: with an early 1-0 lead thanks to Peyton DePriest. The forward returns in perfect time as she slid past Roadrunner defenders and knocked in her sixth goal of the season.
About 20' goes by before the Roadrunners find an opportunity and Abby Kassal converts to even the score up at 1-1 heading into the half. The Raiders are 2-2 this season with the match knotted at 45'.
Quickly out of the break, UTSA (4-3-1, 0-1-0 C-USA) took their first lead (2-1) of the match in the 49' by Deja Sandoval with assists from Ellis Patterson.
Making her first start and first goal of her career, MacKenzie Bonham found her chance as she equalized with a goal in the 58th minute off a corner.
"I was excited but nervous to get my first start plus it was a conference game, so it was a big deal," said freshman MacKenzie Bonham. "The first goal I needed to get across the goal and I just took advantage of the opportunity I got."
Again, UTSA responds and takes the 3-2 lead with about 20 minutes left in the match.
The Raiders and Bonham strapped up their cleats and put their heads forward looking to tie it up. With time climbing down under a minute, MT scrambled for any opportunity the Roadrunners would give. They did just that. With exactly :36 seconds left in the match, the Raiders got a chance in the Roadrunner box thanks to beautiful free kick from Carolin Engelhard.
"The second goal Carolin Engelhard placed the ball right in the box for us with under a minute to go and the ball came to my foot and I just tapped it in to tie it up, said MacKenzie Bonham."
The ball bounced around the box but a somehow the ball landed at Bonham feet and she used her right foot to punch it in forcing the first overtime period this season for the Raiders.
In the beginning of the OT, UTSA dominated possession and earned themselves three-straight corners. The Raiders countered the last corner and worked the ball across the field. Hannah Tillett found MacKenzie Bonham in space on the left side and she fired a tremendous shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced in for the golden goal win.
"On the third goal, the coaches always told me to shoot and so I shot," said Bonham.
Bullseye ↗🎯
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) September 23, 2019
✔ 🏆⚽
✔ 🎩
✔ 1️⃣-0️⃣@NCAASoccer @ConferenceUSA #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/o8bQCmEHLW
RECORD WATCH
Junior forward Peyton DePriest is now 5th all-time in program history with 30 career goals scored. She is just nine goals shy of breaking the all-time record which is currently held by Holly Grogan with 38 goals scored. Be sure to continue watching as DePriest makes some history.
UP NEXT
Big game coming up for the Blue Raiders as they host Rice at Dean Hayes Stadium on Thursday, September 26th at 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE BLUE
Twitter: @MT_Soccer
Facebook: Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Womens Soccer
Instagram: @MT_WSoccer
Team Stats
MT
UTSA
Goals
4
3
Shots
11
9
Shots on Goal
5
5
Saves
2
1
Corners
4
10
Fouls
13
19
Scoring Plays

DePriest,Peyton (6)
shot from the left side, shot lower left
4:18

Kassal, Abby (1)
Assisted By: Patterson, Ellis , Bolton, Lexi
cross from Ellis to Lexi, shot from righ
26:32

Sandoval, Deja (2)
Assisted By: Patterson, Ellis
header off corner kick
48:50

Bonham,MacKenzie (1)
found far corner
57:06

Patterson, Ellis (4)
Assisted By: Galan, Nicole
pass from Galan, found bottom right corn
68:38

Bonham,MacKenzie (2)
found left post off header from defender
89:24

Bonham,MacKenzie (3)
shot from left side outside pentaly box,
96:32
Game Leaders
Players
Players Mentioned
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