Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
6-1-2, 0-0-0
Evansville
2-2-1, 0-0-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evansville | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Middle Tenn. | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Phillips brace, Denham free kick lift Women's Soccer past Evansville, 3-1
9/11/2026 1:03:00 AM | Women's Soccer
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – They say pressure makes diamonds, and that statement proved true for Middle Tennessee Women's Soccer as it took two individual career milestones to surpass a stubborn Evansville defense on Thursday night, 3-1.
Freshman forward Ania Denham was the hero once again as she delivered her team-leading fifth goal from her second free-kick score of the season. The strike tallied her fourth game-winning goal in 2026, a leaderboard in which she now tops the nation outright on. Junior forward Hailey Phillips both opened and closed the night's scoring as she logged her first career brace and the Blue and White's first individual multi-goal performance since Emma Petterson put two past FIU's goalkeeper on Oct. 12, 2025.
MTSU's second-straight victory over Evansville elevated the Blue Raiders to 6-1-2 and marked their best win total in non-conference play since the 2018 season when they reached six wins through their first nine games.
''One of our processes is to find a way to play every game with a certain identity,'' MTSU head coach Rhoden said. ''I think we were able to do that tonight with the type of goals we scored, the possession we had, the shots on goal we had, and of course the resilience we showed after giving up a goal early again.''
After a 5-0 rout of Alabama A&M on Sunday, the Blue and White's goalscoring habits revealed themselves again early when Luiza Junior dos Santos floated a high cross towards the frame of the goal. The ball went off of the goalkeeper's gloves and hit the crossbar before falling to Phillips, who was in the right place at the right time to put Middle Tennessee on the board inside three minutes for its earliest goal of the season. Additionally, the Brazilian midfielder's assist counted as her first in Blue and White.
However, just two minutes later, Evansville's Brooklyn Robinson leveled the scoring after Taylor Johnson's quick cross found her inside a scrap in the penalty area.
At the 31-minute mark, the Blue Raiders threatened to take the lead after Saachi Bureau was brought down in the box, earning a penalty kick after a lengthy video-assisted review. Denham's well-taken strike was saved by Aces goalkeeper Brianna Chirpich for the shot-stopper's first career penalty save and MTSU's first spot-kick miss of the season.
In the second half, Middle Tennessee threatened to start quickly as it did in the first, courtesy of shots on goal from Hannah Murphy, Phillips, Junior dos Santos, and Bureau, as well as a strike from MTSU's No. 5 that hit the inside corner of the woodwork and bounced out.
The turning point came in the 67th minute after Denham's free kick soared into the top-right corner, leaving Chirpich on her lonesome as the Welshwoman notched a goal in back-to-back matches for the second time this season after scoring against both West Georgia (Aug. 23) and Miami (OH) (Aug. 27).
The MTSU back line held firm for the remainder of the contest, limiting the Aces to only one shot during the final 20-minute period.
Phillips ended any sort of debate in the 83rd minute, providing the mic-drop moment as she shrugged off multiple defenders on a solo run from the halfway line to rifle the ball into the top corner for her single-season career-best third goal of the season and MTSU's third of the night.
Although defense has been the hallmark of MTSU's 2026 season so far, its offensive exploits have taken center stage as of late, with the Blue Raiders' back-to-back matches tallying at least three goals marking the first such stretch since Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, 2024, when they defeated Bellarmine 6-2 and Alabama A&M 5-0. It also marks the third match of the season in which the Blue Raiders have scored at least three goals, already matching their total from 2025.
In total, the Blue Raiders took 14 shots with 12 on target, representing their second match of the season logging double-digit shots on target and most since Aug. 17, 2025 when they took 13 against Jackson State. Middle Tennessee's .857 shot accuracy (minimum 10 shots) is the highest in program history (dating back to when the statistic was first recorded in 2010) and marks the first time MTSU has eclipsed the .800 mark since Aug. 22, 2019, also against Evansville.
The trio of Phillips, Denham and Bureau accounted for nine of MTSU's 14 shots on frame, with each player's three accurate shots representing a single-match career high.
Freshman Zoey Kulas earned her first career start and logged 32 minutes, while freshman Liza Miller saw a career-high 58 minutes of action.
In goal, Demi Gronauer recorded three saves, bringing her season total up to 16.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee will embark on its second three-match road trip of the season beginning with Tennessee Tech on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 5 p.m., before getting a week's vacation leading up to a road tilt with Jackson State at 12 p.m. MTSU will then begin Conference USA play on the road at Jax State for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
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Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Hailey Phillips (3)
Assisted By: Luiza Junior Dos Santos
GOAL by MTSU Phillips, Hailey Assist by Junior Dos Santos, Luiza.
02:31
Brooklyn Robinson (2)
Assisted By: Taylor Johnson
GOAL by EVAN Robinson, Brooklyn Assist by Johnson, Taylor.
04:44
Ania Denham (5)
GOAL by MTSU Denham, Ania.
67:37
Hailey Phillips (3)
GOAL by MTSU Phillips, Hailey.
82:36
