MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee soccer team (1-3-2) picked up its first win of the season, defeating in-state rival Tennessee (5-2-0) Friday evening 1-0 at the Hayes Soccer Stadium.

This marked the first win for the Blue Raiders over the Lady Volunteers as UT holds a 1-4 advantage in the all-time series.

“Tennessee is a fantastic team,” said head coach Aston Rhoden. “They showed a lot of their quality tonight. They kept us under pressure. I think it was good for the girls to actually put together a good 90 minutes and grind through to a win. I am really proud of how they performed.”

MT struck early as Amalie Anderdal had a free kick off of a UT foul in the third minute. Her pass found the foot of Emily Jorgenson right in front of the net and past a diving UT goalkeeper, snapping a 331-minute shutout streak for the Lady Vols. The goal was Jorgenson’s first of the year and Anderdal’s first assist on the season. 

“This team has been playing better and better every game,” Rhoden said.”Our record doesn’t say that, but we’ve faced a lot of tough opponents, including Tennessee. It was good to see us put the ball down a little bit and create some offense. It was really good to see that.”

The goalkeepers kept the contest at 1-0 going into the intermission as both Tennessee’s Julie Eckel and MT’s Kelsey Brouwer snagged a save each in the first period.

Both clubs got shots off in the opening 10 minutes of the second period, but only one on goal as Eckel grabbed a shot from Anderdal to keep MT from scoring its second goal.

As the clock ticked down, both keepers made big saves in the 88th minute. Brouwer collected a shot from CC Cobb at 87:14 to preserve the MT lead, while Eckel prevented the Blue Raider insurance goal from Kate Loy at 87:41.

”It’s unbelievable,” Rhoden said. “We are known to be an attacking team; yet our defense, goalkeeper and back players have been very strong. Defensive midfielders have been strong. Tonight everybody worked and grinded it out. It was a fantastic win. I am really happy and proud for them because they deserve it.”

On the night, Brouwer tallied three saves, while Eckel had four. UT managed to outshoot MT 11-9, while the Blue Raiders had five shots on goal compared to Tennessee’s three. The Lady Vols won the corner contest with five corner kicks to MT’s one.

The Blue Raiders return to action Sunday, Sept. 15, hosting Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m.

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