MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Paige Goeglein and Kate Loye combined for four goals as Middle Tennessee soccer shutout UALR, 5-0, to win their Sun Belt Conference opener on Friday evening at the Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium.

The Blue Raiders (6-3, 1-0 Sun Belt) pelted the Trojans (1-8, 0-1 SBC) by outshooting UALR 27-3 in the match. MT put 15 of the 23 shots on goal, while UALR connected with two on-goal opportunities.

“It was great to come out in front of our home crowd and get a shutout,” noted head coach Aston Rhoden. “I was pleased with how we managed the game.”

Loye picked up her first two-goal match of her collegiate career, while Goeglein posted her team-best sixth and seventh goals this season. MT goalkeepers Kelsey Brouwer (4-2-0) and Jessica Gilchrist notched the first combined shutout of the season by deflecting away three UALR shots.

Middle Tennessee, which came into the weekend as the No. 3 scoring offense in the country, started the scoring frenzy early on. During the fourth minute, Goeglein connected from a Regina Thomas pass inside the box to give the Raiders the early advantage.  

UALR battled for the next 20 minutes until Whitney Jorgenson sent a cross in the center for Loye’s first goal of the match and giving MT a 2-nil lead at the half. The assist by Jorgenson was her 19^th in her career, moving her into fifth all-time passing Vannesa Mueggler’s 18 set in 2007-10.

The Blue Raiders led the shot column 13-1 at the end of the first period. Jorgenson led the Raiders with three of the 13 shots in the first half.

In the second half, Jorgenson tallied her fifth goal this year when Murfreesboro’s Tori Hawkins connected with the senior for the third point in the match.

At the 53^rd minute, Loye send a cross inside the left side and that’s where Goeglein added her second goal in the contest.

The Blue Raiders extended their lead to 5-0 when Loye booted in the ball at 70^th minute. Katinka Stenberg picked up the assist.

Loye and Jorgenson each knotted six shots. Jorgenson had five reach on goal, while Loye totaled three.

UALR’s Natalie Marsh (0-4) took the loss, giving up four goals, while collecting seven saves.

“One of our goals was to make sure that we had good possession of the ball and good movement off the ball,” said Rhoden. “I think we had a lot of that tonight from everyone.”

On Sunday, Middle Tennessee welcomes Arkansas State (6-4, 0-1 SBC), who dropped at 2-0 match at WKU Friday. The contest is slated for a 1pm start at the Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium. The first 50 fans in attendance will receive a free Blue Raider lunch bag.  

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