Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Hits The Road For Two MAC Contests
October 19, 2006 | Soccer
This Weekend's Games . . .
The Cardinals hit the road for the final time in the 2006 regular season as they travel to Northern Illinois on Friday afternoon and Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon.
Ball State enters the weekend on top of the Mid-American Conference standings with a 5-2-1 conference record.
Series History . . .
Friday's meeting between the Cardinals and Northern Illinois is the eighth meeting all-time in the series. Ball State owns a 3-2-2 record against the Huskies, including a 2-0 victory last season in Muncie.
The Cardinals out-shot the Huskies, 18-8, in the victory as forward Emily Rein recorded a goal and an assist. Fellow forward Sarah Leibel picked up the game's other goal while defender Betsy Wilcek added an assist.
Sunday's game featuring the Cardinals and Western Michigan is the 10th meeting all-time between the MAC rivals. The series has been evenly matched with the Cardinals' record standing at 4-4-1 against the Broncos.
Last season, Ball State came home with a 2-0 victory over the visiting Broncos. Midfielder Vandi Ogden gave the Cardinals all of the scoring they would need with her unassisted goal in the 13th minute.
About the Cardinals . . .
The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 10-3-3 record overall on the season and a 5-2-1 mark in Mid-American Conference action. The Cardinals are coming off of a 1-0-1 home weekend in which they tied Ohio and defeated Akron. In Sunday's game, senior midfielder Amy Holst became just the third Cardinal all-time to record a hat trick as she scored all three of BSU's goals in the first half. The hat trick is the first for a Ball State player since the 2000 season when two players accomplished the feat just two weeks apart.
Holst leads the Cardinals and the MAC on the season with eight goals and 16 total points. She has tallied three game-winning goals which is tied with forward Emily Rein for the team lead. Rein is second on the team with five goals and three assists for 13 points. Forward Sarah Schumacker is also second on the team with 13 points as she has tallied four goals and fished out a team-high five assists.
Goalkeeper Rachael Murphy has played every minute in net for the Cardinals this season and boasts a 1.06 goals against average. She also has tallied five shutouts on the season.
About the Huskies . . .
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a 4-9-2 record overall and a 3-5-0 mark in Mid-American Conference action. The Huskies are coming off of a 1-1 weekend in which they knocked off preseason MAC favorite Central Michigan on the road before falling to Eastern Michigan.
The Huskies are paced by Karen Enockson who leads the team and is tied for fourth in the MAC with 15 points. She has scored seven goals this season as she is just one of three players to have scored more than one goal this season.
Northern Illinois is tied for seventh in the MAC with 18 goals scored this season. The Huskies are eighth in the conference with 23 goals allowed this season.
About the Broncos . . .
Western Michigan enters the weekend with a 3-12-1 record overall on the year and a 2-6-0 mark in MAC action. The Broncos will face off against Miami at home on Friday prior to Sunday's meeting with the Cardinals. WMU is coming off of a 1-1 weekend as it defeated Eastern Michigan before falling to Central Michigan.
Western Michigan is led by Thalia Playford who has recorded a team-high 14 points this season on the strength of seven goals. Chantal Robinson is second on the team in scoring with five goals this season. The two players have accounted for 63 percent of the team's goals this season.
The Broncos are sixth in the MAC with 19 goals scored on the year. Western Michigan is last in the conference in goals allowed as they have surrendered 38 so far this season.
Regional Buzz . . .
The Cardinals have been ranked in the region numerous times this season by both Soccerbuzz.com and the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA). The Cardinals enter this week receiving votes in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region Poll and are the only Mid-American Conference team represented in the region.
Rein Earns MAC Honor . . .
Sophomore forward Emily Rein was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week earlier this year after leading the Cardinals to two road victories at Bowling Green and Toledo.
Rein, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, notched both game-winning goals on the weekend. She scored an unassisted goal against Bowling Green in the 24th minute that snapped a 900-plus minute BGSU shutout streak and tallied another unassisted goal in the 50th minute of the Toledo victory.
Fast MAC Starts . . .
The Cardinals are the only team in the MAC to win their first four games of the season. The 4-0-0 start to MAC play is the best start for the Cardinals in program history. Last season, Ball State opened the season 3-1-0 as did the 2002 team.
MAC Stats . . .
The Cardinals can be seen near the top of most statistical categories in the latest Mid-American Conference release. The Cardinals are among the top three in nine of the 14 team statistical categories, including the top mark in seven categories. BSU leads the league in shots per game (16.56), points (5.31), goals (30), goals per game (1.88), assists (25), assists per game (1.56) and corner kicks (106).
The Cardinals also have three players in the top seven in scoring in the MAC. Amy Holst is tied for second with 16 points while Emily Rein and Sarah Schumacker are tied for seventh in scoring with 13 points. Holst also leads the conference in goals with eight while Schumacker is tied for the conference lead in assists with five.
New Face at the Front . . .
Ball State first-year head coach Michelle Salmon picked up her first victory with the Cardinals in her first game when BSU downed IPFW, 5-1. The Cardinals are off to a 10-3-3 record under Salmon as she now boasts a 56-56-11 overall career coaching record.
Salmon joins the Cardinals staff after spending the past six seasons at the helm of UMBC. She compiled a 46-53-8 record with the Retrievers before coming to Muncie.
Preseason Prognosticators . . .
Ball State, fresh off of a second place finish in the MAC last fall, was picked to finish tied for seventh place by league coaches in the Preseason MAC Poll. The Cardinals were picked to finish tied with Eastern Michigan.
Central Michigan was the overall favorite to win the league crown and the conference tournament championship this fall as the Chippewas return 10 of 11 starters from last season. Defending champion Bowling Green was picked to finish third this season with Western Michigan tabbed for second.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals will close out the 2006 regular season at home next Thursday afternoon as they play host to travel partner Miami at the BSU Soccer Field. The game will also serve as senior day for the Cardinals' four seniors in Sarah Maxwell, Vandi Ogden, Amy Holst and Amy Cooksey.
The game on Thursday will also be broadcast by WCRD, the Ball State Student Radio Station. The game will be available online with access on www.ballstatesports.com.
