Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Blue Raider Soccer Eager to Take Next Step in 2022
8/9/2022 12:17:00 PM | Women's Soccer
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.—For the first time in over five years, the Middle Tennessee soccer team will hit the pitch without perhaps the most prolific player in program history in Peyton DePriest. While losing DePriest to both graduation and the professional ranks will be no feat to tackle, it's one that the 2022 Blue Raiders are most certainly equipped to deal with.
Couple that with the loss of some of her classmates and another challenging schedule, and one might begin to let doubt creep in. One thing you can be sure of as a fan, the outside noise and doubt surrounding this year's group is more motivation to make this team eager to take the next step following a trip to the Conference semifinals last season.
"At the end of the day, Peyton generated an average of 11 goals a season for us, but not all those goals are goals that were solo efforts," Blue Raider Head Coach Aston Rhoden said. "This year, we have a good three to five people that can score goals. We're more balanced, and that makes us a more dangerous team."
Though the Blue Raiders lost DePriest along with five other players that logged time in at least 10 matches last season, the fact that Rhoden's squad is getting 10 players back that played in at least as many of those games, including the teams second leading scorer in rising sophomore Kirstine Lykke, should help soften the blow of losing some of the veterans from last year's team.
Lykke was able to notch five goals and had two assists in her rookie campaign, garnering 12 points on the year, which was good for the second highest total on the team. The rangy forward had an impact on both sides of the pitch, matching up with some of the conference's best scorers on a regular basis last year and showing that she could shine in big moments as she earned C-USA Player of the Week honors following a game-winner over Marshall last season.
A trio of three new players that will flank Lykke along the forward line in freshman Emma Pettersen and Gabriella Shegota, who dominated at the youth level and junior transfer Jackie Reilly, a key contributor at Oakland University, will help lead the Blue Raider charge on the offensive end of the pitch.
"(Lykke) was a strong performer for us last year," Rhoden said. "She kind of lived in the shadow of Peyton a bit, but now that she is gone I think that gives Lykke a tremendous amount of confidence to lead the front line. We have three new players who are very good, as well, that will help balance out the skill set that she has."
Likely the greatest strength on the team is how the team will line up along the backline and in net this season. While the forwards and midfielders are a largely youth-laden group, the backline returns a ton of experience and is set up to follow up a year in which the Blue Raiders allowed less than three goals in 16 of the 19 games they played in last season.
A big reason for that was the play of senior goalkeeper Hannah Suder. The Jacksonville, Fla., native played in all but one game last season and ranked second in Conference USA in saves with 80 and in minutes played with 1,694, both within the top 100 for goalkeepers nationally. Aside from the shortened 2020 season, Suder has played in no less than 10 games in her career and set a career low 1.28 goals against average last season along with a career high .769 save percentage. The netminder and backline will likely be the foundation that this year's version of the Blue Raiders will be built upon.
"With the experience of Hannah Suder, Alex Goffi, Caroline Manley, Sascha Nielsen, Lauren Spaanstra, Alayna Lynchard and Madison Franz, they all came on really strong toward the end of the year and in conference play," Rhoden said. "We've got some experience in the back and we also have young talent that brings some assets that we didn't have before."
Rhoden made a pair of new additions to the Middle Tennessee coaching staff in the offseason when he announced the hiring of assistant coaches Zak Davis and Hannah Hoefs.
Davis joins the Blue Raiders after spending the past four seasons as an assistant with George Washington University where he trained goalkeepers and worked with the backline and made a trip to the A-10 Conference title game in the 2019 season.
Hoefs comes to Murfreesboro following a year and a half as an assistant with Shenandoah University where she was the primary recruiter for the Hornets following her playing career as a midfielder at Loyola University of Maryland, where she led the Patriot League in both goals and points as a senior.
"Coach Davis has been here since February and has integrated into the team and Coach (Hoefs) joined us a month and a half ago and both of them fit our core values and have done really well," Rhoden said.
It's no secret that Middle Tennessee has a mountain to climb this season if it's going to compete for a conference title. With a rock-solid defensive core and some exciting young talent that will be thrust into the spotlight this season, the Blue Raiders are excited to quiet the doubters and prove that they are ready to climb to put a winning team on the field in 2022.
