MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee soccer head coach Aston Rhoden announced the addition of 10 student-athletes as members of the 2013 recruiting class to join the Raider program in the fall.

This year’s class consists of student-athletes from four states and one international signee. There are three midfielders, three forwards, two defenders and two goalkeepers that make up the rookie class.

The bulk of this year’s class hails from California: Coral Hasley (Del Mar), Angelina Lai (San Diego), Kenda Reif (Indio) and Carisa Rivers (El Dorado Hills). Three in-state products join the Blue Raider program as Chattanooga’s Laura Stewart, Knoxville’s Allison Gale and Collierville’s Autumn Woods all inked NLIs this week.

Midfielder Miranda Caballero (Port Orchard, Wash.) and defender Madison Ledet (Allen, Texas) also hail from the states. London England’s Courteney Gibson was the lone international signee for MT this season.

“First I would like to thank my assistants Chris Cahill and Allison Whitworth and our returning players for their assistance in securing this strong group of student athletes,” noted head coach Aston Rhoden. “One of our primary goals during this recruiting period was to increase the depth and versatility of our team without compromising its quality while maintaining our tradition of recruiting strong students.”

“I believe we accomplished this with our 2013 class. All members of this class play multiple positions and are strong students. They are all fully capable of challenging for starting roles in their respective positions and all are fierce competitors on the field. The 2013 class will increase our depth and foster internal competition in all positions.”

The Blue Raiders capped a remarkable year in 2012 with a 14-5-1 mark (8-1-1 SBC), only second behind a 2006 squad that went 17-4. MT also registered six All-Conference selections and three individual honorees. Paige Goeglein was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, while freshman Kate Loye garnered Freshman of the Year. For the third time in his career, Coach Aston Rhoden was crowned the league's Coach of the Year.

“Even though we’ll be a young team, I’m confident the 2013 class along with a strong core of returning players will help us achieve success throughout a rigorous non-conference and Conference USA schedule,” said Rhoden. “I can hardly wait to have our new players on campus and to start creating our first team to compete in C-USA.”

2013 Middle Tennessee Soccer Recruiting Class

Miranda Caballero, M, Port Orchard, Wash. (South Kitsap HS)
Allison Gale, F/M, Knoxville, Tenn. (South Doyle HS)
Courteney Gibson, F, Lewisham, London (Dartford Grammar School)
Coral Hasley, GK, Del Mar, Calif. (The Bishop School)
Angelina Lai, M, San Diego, Calif. (Mira Mesa HS)
Madison Ledet, D, Allen, Texas (Allen HS)
Kendra Reif, D, Indio, Calif. (Palm Desert HS)
Carisa Rivers, F, El Dorado Hills, Calif. (Oak Ridge HS)
Grace Stewart, D, Chattanooga, Tenn. (The Baylor School)
Autumn Woods, GK, Collierville, Tenn. (Collierville HS)