The UTEP soccer team (3-10, 1-5 C-USA) fell short to Middle Tennessee University (8-5, 4-2 Conference USA) 2-0 Friday night despite holding a 7-4 advantage over MTSU. Most of the night the Miners got close to the net to score but couldn’t connect and were unable to win this contest.
Freshman forward Peyton Depriest and freshman midfielder forward Lykke Kristine. Freshman goalkeeper Hannah Suder also accounted for six stops and a save on a penalty kick.
Redshirt goalkeeper Mariah Scott for the Miners had two saves in this contest.
The Lady Miners got some offense going in minute nine, when junior forward Jojo Ngongo tried to get a shot in from outside the box, but nothing was able to fall inside the net due to Suder making a diving stop.
MTSU junior forward Elizabeth Slavinsky tried to get past Scott, but Scott was able to block Slavinsky, counting it as a save.
The Miners and MTSU battled for possession with both teams trying to create scoring opportunities as the half went on. Solid passes set up senior forward Jackie Soto to score a goal at 29 minutes but was denied by Suder at 31 minutes. When sophomore midfielder forward Eleanor McGough came close to scoring a goal, Scott blocked her shot attempt to keep the contest scoreless.
DePriest broke the scoreless tie by scoring a goal at 39 minutes by sneaking a shot past Scott into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Soto tried to score for the Miners, but once again, however, the shot was stopped by Suder.
With 30 seconds remaining left in the half, UTEP gave up another goal to Kristine, making the contest 2-0.
The Miners came out with good energy to start the second half. The Miners earned a penalty kick two minutes into the contest. However, junior forward Ayana Noel’s try was stopped by Suder. UTEP then had another shot from freshman midfielder Cayman Tamez but that was blocked at 51 minutes.
UTEP had another opportunity at minute 63 with Ngongo beating Suder with the shot only to have the ball rattle off the crossbar. The Lady Miners got a corner kick at minute 70, but they couldn’t score a goal to put themselves within arm’s reach of this contest.
At minute 85 of the contest, redshirt junior forward midfielder Vic Bohdan kicked the ball from the top of the box, but Suder smothered the shot. Three minutes later, it was Molly Sutherland who was streaking up the left wing. However, Suder made a diving stop to seal the 2-0 win for MTSU.
The Lady Miners next matchup is against Southern Miss on Friday Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. Their game against the Golden Eagles will be the Miners’ last home game. Live stats and a live stream will be available for UTEP’s senior night.
All stats provided by UTEP Athletics.
