Second Half Offense Leads Rice to 3-1 Victory at Middle Tennessee

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Second half goals by Serena Pham and Grace Collins turned an early Rice deficit into 3-1 victory at Middle Tennessee, Wednesday night at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium.

The Details
Middle Tennessee got on the board early in the ninth minute when Manon Lebargy hit Emma Pettersen behind the Rice defense and put the ball under a sliding Bella Killgore into the right corner. The Owls started to get some pressure on the 24^th minute when Grace Collins and Natalie Gorji had back-to-back shots, but couldn't get them on net. Collins then got behind the MTSU defense, but pressure from a defender forced her shot to go off the side of the net. Rice finally broke through in the 37^th minute. After Jessica Molina drew a penalty, Mariano Elizondo converted the ensuing penalty kick, knotting the match at one. It stayed that way as the teams went into halftime.

The Owls stepped up the pressure to start the second half. Gorji got off two shots in the first five minutes and Kallie McKinney had two shots 10 minutes later. After Rice made a line change, Middle Tennessee got four shots, the last of which was stopped by Killgore. But after the Owls weathered the storm, Serena Pham gave them the lead in the 68^th minute, putting a free kick into the top left corner. Just a minute later, Killgore came up with her best save of the match making diving save to her right to stop Pettersen from inside the box. Collins then increased Rice's lead to 3-1, taking a long pass from Gorji, splitting the defense and putting it into the right corner. Killgore made one more save in the final minute to seal the win.

What Head Coach Brian Lee Had to Say
"It was good to see the team respond to a bit of a lackluster start. The first half subs changed the game for the better and in the second half the entire team put in a good shift."

Up Next
Rice closes the regular season next Saturday, Oct. 29 when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., to face UAB. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and the match will be streamed on CUSAtv.

Notes
• This was the 10th meeting between Rice and Middle Tennessee.
• Rice is 5-2-3 against the Blue Raiders, and 2-0-1 in Murfreesboro.
• Rice has started 9-0-0 in conference play for just the second time in its history and the first time since 2017.
• In conference play, the Owls are outscoring the opposition, 19-to-3.
• Rice's nine corner kicks were a season-high.
• MF Mariana Elizondo scored her second goal of the season and third of her career.
• She also converted her first career penalty kick.
• MF Serena Pham scored her second goal of the season and the sixth of her career.
• It was also her second game-winning goal this year.
• F Grace Collins scored her eighth goal of the season and the 27^th of her career.
• Collins has 24 points on the year to tie Lauren Hughes (2015) and Nia Stallings (2017) for the fifth most in a season in Rice history.
• GK Bella Killgore made four saves.
• Killgore now has 83 saves on the year to move into sole possession of eighth-place Rice's single-season list.

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