Soccer Hosts NIU Sunday to Open MAC Tournament

Game 20
MAC Tournament Quarterfinals
(2) Ball State vs. (7) Northern Illinois
Sunday, Oct. 29 (1 p.m.)
Watch (ESPN3) | Live Stats

The first 200 students will receive a winter fur hat when they show their student ID.

The Ball State soccer team enters the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 seed Northern Illinois for a Sunday quarterfinal game.

The Cardinals won the MAC West Division for the third straight year and narrowly missed out on a third consecutive overall regular season title, falling one point shy of Kent State.

Ball State (10-6-3, 8-1-2 MAC) wrapped up the regular season Thursday with a 1-0 victory at Miami to reach the 10-win mark for the fifth straight season. Lucy Walton scored the game-winner, and Senior CLASS Award candidate Alyssa Heintschel broke the school record for goalkeeper wins with the 35th of her career.

Northern Illinois (8-9-1, 5-6-0 MAC) dropped its final regular season game Thursday, 1-0 to Western Michigan, to finish fourth in the MAC West standings.

The Huskies handed the Cardinals their only MAC defeat this year, winning 3-2 in overtime earlier this month in Muncie. It snapped Ball State's 25-game home unbeaten streak, which was the longest active streak in the country.

BSU rebounded from that game to post a 4-0-1 record down the stretch. The Cardinals were especially stout defensively over those five contests, surrendering only one goal.

The winner of Sunday's game will advance to the semifinals to meet either No. 3 seed Toledo or No. 6 seed Western Michigan. First-round matchups on the other side of the bracket are No. 1 seed Kent State vs. No. 8 seed Ohio and No. 4 seed Bowling Green vs. No. 5 seed Buffalo.

The top remaining seed after the quarterfinals will host the semifinals and finals.

Sunday's game is a rematch of last year's quarterfinal. Ball State and Northern Illinois played to a 1-1 draw before the Huskies advanced on penalty kicks.

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Heintschel

Lucy Walton