Blue Raiders lose 3-0 to Oral Roberts

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders were unable to capture their second straight win and conceded two goals before the half in route to falling 3-0 to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in their final match at the Tulsa Soccer Invitational on Sunday afternoon.

"It is a disappointing loss. I think we really controlled the game in the whole second half, but it is frustrating because by then we were already two goals down," Head Coach Aston Rhoden said. "It was very hard to catch up even though we were playing better."

The Blue Raiders came into today's finale full of confidence after defeating the host Tulsa Golden Hurricane 1-0 on Friday night for their first victory of the season. Freshman forward Shan Jones provided the difference, scoring a first-half strike for her team-leading fourth goal of the year.

Loreena Soto put Oral Roberts ahead in the 27th minute when she got on the end of a Coreen Walker cross and finished from five yards out for her first goal of the season.

The goalscorer turned provider in the 39th minute when she found Natalya Manyan in the area to double the Golden Eagles lead to 2-0, an advantage they would hold going into the halftime.

The Blue Raiders played much better in the second half and came close to getting back in the match several times, but it was ORU's Manyan who again found the back of the net for her second goal. The forward scored from 10 yards out off a nice pass from Maria Grados to make it 3-0 in favor of Oral Roberts.

"We had to begin to taking some risks while trying to get a goal back in the second half and Oral Roberts capitalized off of that for their final score," Rhoden said.

Despite out shooting the Golden Eagles 11-8, including a 7-4 margin in shots on frame, the Blue Raiders failed to put the ball in the back of the net for the second time this year. Middle Tennessee has scored more than one goal in a match only once this season and must capitalize on their chances in the coming matches if this disappointing trend is to be turned around.

Middle Tennessee returns to Blue Raider Field for a match against Southeastern Conference foe Ole Miss on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 6:30 PM. Follow the action live by selecting the appropriate links on GoBlueRaiders.com.

Tulsa Invitational All-Tournament Team

Tara Lomas, Oral Roberts (MVP)
Natalya Manyan, Oral Roberts
Kaycie Porter, Oral Roberts
Maria Grados, Oral Roberts
Hope Suominen, Middle Tennessee
Fran Howells, Middle Tennessee
Vanessa Mueggler, Middle Tennessee
Rachel Robinson, Tulsa
Hannah Taylor, Tulsa
Sofia Turesson, Arkansas State
Michele Clark, Arkansas State

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