BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Middle Tennessee soccer regular season came to a close Friday night when the Blue Raiders lost 2-0 at rival Western Kentucky at the WKU Soccer Complex in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers scored a goal in each half for the win against a depleted Blue Raider squad, which was missing a couple of its key players.
"We played a very solid WKU team," head coach Aston Rhoden. "We did not play as smart as we could have and our mistakes were costly. Our primary focus now is on the conference tournament and we hope to make a good run at it."
Western Kentucky (14-4-1, 9-2 Sun Belt) got on the board during the opening 45 minutes when Mallory Outerbridge dribbled around a pair of Blue Raider defenders before launching her shot into the back of the net behind goalie Rebecca Cushing at 23:02.
WKU again was able to slip a shot between the pipes for the final margin. Kellie Walker and Kelsey Meyer both fed Kaylyn Pratt at 51:38 for another score from 10 yards away.
Sophomore Luisa Moscoso was the only Middle Tennessee (12-5-2, 6-4-1 Sun Belt) player with more than one shot, as she had two attempts at Hilltopper keeper Libby Stout. Morgan Thomas and Lindsey Goad paced WKU with three shots each.
Middle Tennessee will next compete in the Sun Belt Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Boca Raton, Fla., with Florida Atlantic serving as the host institution. The Blue Raiders will be the No. 5 seed in the eight-team field and face the yet-to-be-determined No. 4 seed in their first round match, at Noon (CST) Wednesday.
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