Blue Raiders primed for 2021 season

8/9/2021 9:02:00 AM | Women's Soccer

By: Anthony Fiorella, MT Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.—In perhaps one of the most unique seasons in recent memory, the Middle Tennessee soccer program battled through a tough conference slate in the 2020 season and wound up with a 3-3 record in a year that the team is most certainly glad is over.

Though last season brought upon lots of trials and tribulations, it seems that it could all be worthwhile for the Blue Raiders this season as they will get one more year out of grad students Peyton DePriest, the program's all-time leading goal scorer (46) and first time All-South selection Sam DeBien.

"Sam and I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this to be able to stay one more year to develop and continue our education," DePriest said. "Of course I think both Sam and I realized we aren't ready to give up soccer and I can say for both of us we're still looking to play somewhere professionally so it gives us the opportunity to be more prepared for a professional career."

With the return of what fans could argue were the two most impactful players on the team last year, it brings a wealth of experience and plenty of goal-scoring ability to the forward group.

DePriest led the team with eight points and four goals last season and her 46 career goals places her just two goals short of setting a new record for most goals in a career for any Conference USA player. She also still holds the Blue Raider record for highest career shot percentage at .258 along with a host of single-season marks.

"My focus has never been on individual achievements, and I always stand by that," DePriest said. "We haven't been able to win a conference championship since I've been here so I'd love to end my career here with a team accomplishment. That would mean more than anything I've been able to do so far."
While DeBien took a fair amount of shots and came close to scoring on a multitude of occasions, she spent a majority of her time last season as a midfielder and her impact was felt on both sides of the pitch, providing veteran leadership to a young midfield and backline while also supporting an aggressive attack on the offensive end.

Sophomore Taylor Hamlett saw significant playing time last year and had a pair of assists and also looks to take a step forward in her development this season. Hamlett's classmate Ashley Shimberg also had arguably the greatest single-game performance on the team last season when she scored four goals against Marshall. If last season provided a glimpse into this pairing's future, Blue Raider fans should have plenty of optimism for improvements on the offensive end of the pitch this year.

"Getting Sam and Peyton back gives us a lot of experience and having them to guide some of our younger players is something that's invaluable," Rhoden said. "The forwards are versatile. We have a lot of kids with a lot different talents. It allows us to give different looks to the opponents and create challenges and problems."

While the forwards look to lean on the return of the DeBien and DePriest, veteran Miya Lennon returns for her true senior year in 2021 after making the move from forward to midfielder last season to provide quality leadership to a midfield group that helped the Blue Raiders young backline come up with two shutouts in six games last year.

While it's unclear yet if DeBien will stick as a forward this year or if she'll spend more time as a midfielder again, Lennon will have plenty of young talent alongside her in the midfield. Sophomore Eleanor Gough led the team with three assists last season and was a force defensively. Junior transfer Megan Sheehan tallied two goals and two assists last season at Daytona State College and should likely see significant minutes this season.

Over this past offseason, coach Rhoden and his staff signed seven freshman that play both forward and midfield, so it's also likely that you will see a combination of any of those (Maddie Franz, Lia Zavalsky, Kirstine Lykke, Lainey Callis, Sascha Nielsen, Victoria McKool and Hannah Kadzban) seven get into the mix.

"If you look at our midfield group, we have a lot of players that grew in this shortened spring season and started to find their feet," Rhoden said. "That group will be just as competitive as the forwards."
On the backline and in net, the Blue Raiders got a few pleasant surprises last season that helped this group have an extremely successful six-game stretch this past spring.

In her first season as the full-time starter in goal, rising junior Hannah Suder recorded two shutouts against conference opponents Old Dominion and FIU and had a total of 14 saves on the year, good for a 1.35 GAA and a save percentage of .636. She had a season-high five saves against Charlotte last spring and allowed just eight goals all season.

The backline was a huge question mark coming into the spring with 14 of the returning 18 players on last spring's roster having never seen the field at Middle Tennessee. It was certain some new blood was going to have to step up in order for this group to succeed and the Blue Raiders saw a freshman lead the group in the spring in Alex Goffi. Goffi's efforts on the defensive end earned her a selection as on the All-CUSA Freshman team, making her the only other all-conference selection from last season aside from Peyton DePriest.

"Coming into last year, I'd heard that one of the problems was that we were conceding too many goals," Goffi said. "Playing with the people I've played with along our backline is the most secure I've felt on any team or any club. Everyone we have works so hard and doesn't give up at any point."

Goffi's classmate Alex Fuggle was a huge part of a backline that helped the Blue Raiders record two shutouts in the spring, starting all six games alongside Goffi and logging the second most minutes on the team with 532 in six games.

Fuggle was second to defender Caroline Manley, who was Middle Tennessee's iron woman last season having played every minute of every game. The rising junior is the elder stateswoman of the group and looks to build upon a career-best season in the spring in which she recorded her first two career points with both a goal and an assist.

"I think our defensive line is one of our best features," Goffi said. "I think that the fact that our backline has so much young talent is amazing."

With 11 of the teams 19 games being played at Dean Hayes Track and Soccer stadium and another two of their road match-ups coming here in the state of Tennessee, it couldn't come at a better time now that fans are allowed back into the stands in 2021. With the help of the Blue Raider faithful, fans can be sure to enjoy watching two of its most successful players in recent memory put together one last run lead this young and talented roster deep into postseason play.

"The players are all optimistic and all excited and ready to take us on a fun journey," Rhoden said. "We have 11 home games and for our players to perform their best a huge contributing factor will be fan support. It's so vital to be able to have our fans back this year to be able to help us."