Ball State University Athletics
Field Hockey Earns Road Win at Miami, Now Tied For First In MAC
October 17, 2006 | Field Hockey
After a scoreless first half, the Ball State field hockey team used three second half goals Tuesday at Miami to earn a 3-1 victory and move into a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference.
With their fifth consecutive win, the Cardinals improved their record to 6-9 (5-2 MAC) and are now tied with Ohio for the conference lead.
Ball State overcame a 22-12 deficit in shots and a 10-3 deficit in penalty corners to earn its first road victory of the season.
"We just sort of figured out a way to win, and that was great," Ball State coach Annette Payne said. "We did a good job of taking the opportunitites we had and putting them in the net."
Senior forward Lindsay Quay broke the scoreless tie seven minutes into the second half, rebounding a shot and finding the cage to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Coming off a hat trick Saturday aganinst Kent State and MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, Quay notched her 11th goal of the season, setting a career-high. She is now alone in tenth place in Ball State goal-scoring history with 34 career goals, one away from moving into a four-way tie for seventh place.
Just five minutes after Quay's goal, sophomore Casey Hunsicker deflected a Tara Reed pass into the upper right corner of the cage to extend the Cardinals' lead to 2-0.
Hunsicker's goal was the first of her collegiate career, and it proved to be the game-winner.
Danielle Perrecone put Miami on the scoreboard with a goal in the 62nd minute, but it was the only goal the RedHawks could manage. Ball State goalkeeper Caroline Lehman faced 13 shots in the game and stopped 12 of them.
"We knew we had to have our defense step up, and they did," Payne said. "Caroline played really well and did a great job back there for us."
Ball State's Carla Chiampi added an insurance goal in the 64th minute to secure the 3-1 victory.
The Cardinals will travel to Central Michigan Friday to take on the Chippewas at 3 p.m. before returning to Muncie for their final home game of the season, a rematch with Miami Sunday at 1 p.m.
