Women’s Soccer to begin three-match Road Trip at Southern Indiana

Sunday, August 16

Evansville, Ind.

5 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

Southern Indiana

8/15/2026 3:20:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Live Stats Game Notes

By: Maxson Hernandez-Trujillo, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Following its season-opening victory against Troy on Thursday, the Middle Tennessee women's soccer team will return to action when it travels to Evansville, Ind. to take on Southern Indiana on Sunday at 5 p.m.

The Blue Raiders (1-0-0) will contest their first of three straight away matches when they face the Screaming Eagles (0-0-1) at Strassweg Field on Sunday evening.

Quick Kicks

Head Coach Aston Rhoden enters his 25th season at the helm of MTSU Soccer, having amassed a 226-185-45 (.545) record since taking over in 2002.
Sunday's matchup with USI is the first of three against Ohio Valley Conference schools (Southern Indiana, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin).
The Blue Raiders will look to improve upon its 8-2-1 all-time record against schools from the Hoosier state.
A win on Sunday would make 2026 the Blue and White's second consecutive season winning its first two games, after winning three straight to start the year in 2025.
MTSU is coming off a stellar 2025 season, when it achieved its best record (11-6-3) and highest win total since 2012 (14-5-1), improving upon its previous year's record for three seasons running.
In Conference USA play, the Blue Raiders achieved a 5-2-1 mark, tying their highest CUSA win total (5) and securing their best tournament seed (4) since 2021.
MTSU's 2026 roster sees 14 returners, five transfers, and 12 freshmen take the field.
The program retained both starting goalkeepers Demi Gronauer and Ella Sellers, who combined for a conference-leading eight clean sheets during the 2025 regular season.
In addition to goalkeepers Gronauer and Sellers, only four outfield starters (Hannah Murphy, Megan Carroll, Scottie Newton, and Mya Stenehjem) return for MTSU.
Head coach Aston Rhoden introduced plenty of experience from the transfer portal, including graduate transfers Bryn Forchic (Stetson) and Saachi Bureau (Wofford), juniors Valentina Navetta (Northern Arizona) and Hailey Phillips (Troy), and sophomore Taylor Dodson (Stephen F. Austin).
Middle Tennessee adds 12 freshmen, including goalkeeper Lydia Itzoe, defenders Taylee Harbeck, Zoey Kulas, and Hailey Crabb, midfielders Nev Herzog, Gracie Somerville and Brynn Patterson, and forwards Payton Pitman, Liza Miller, Tori Gauch, Avery Yagle, and Ania Denham.
The squad both retains and adds international pedigree, including players from six foreign countries (Charli Dunn (New Zealand), Annamaria Benke (Hungary), Jess Gray (England), Luiza Junior dos Santos (Brazil), Ania Denham (Wales), and Maaja Fischer (Canada)) and two players that have represented their national teams (Dunn, Denham)
Graduate Megan Carroll and senior Hannah Murphy will lead the Blue Raiders in 2026, serving as team captains.

Series History
Middle Tennessee's inaugural road trip of the season will also mark the first all-time contest between MTSU and USI. The Blue and White will look to stay perfect on the season in Evansville on Sunday.

Scouting the Screaming Eagles
The Screaming Eagles enter the 2026 season after posting a 9-7-5 (4-2-3 Ohio Valley Conference) record in 2025, finishing fifth in the conference standings. USI was picked to finish third in the OVC this year after reaching the final of the 2025 OVC Tournament, falling to the then-one-seed and defending champions Tennessee Tech 0-0 (3-4 penalty kicks).

Southern Indiana began its season on Thursday night, tying Wright State 0-0 at home as it initiated a three-match homestand.

USI retains All-OVC Second Team junior defender Emma Schut and OVC All-Newcomer defender Tierney Mullady as it rides a 476-minute streak holding opponents scoreless. Forwards Eva Boer and Josie Pochocki lead the line, bringing a 2025 tally of three goals and two assists each into the new season. 2026 OVC Players to Watch Ava Hess and Payton Seymour both featured in Southern Indiana's opening contest, with Hess playing the whole 90 minutes.

Sophomore goalkeeper Merrick Schwalback made five saves on the night to register her second-career clean sheet.

The Screaming Eagles are coached by 11th-year head coach Eric Schoenstein, who guided their transition from Division II to Division I in 2022. Schoenstein is the fourth head coach in USI women's soccer history and is second all-time in program coaching wins.

Follow the Blue Raiders
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