Soccer Wins MAC Regular Season Championship

MUNCIE, Ind. ? For the first time in the program's eight-year history, the Ball State soccer team can call itself champions. The Cardinals claimed the Mid-American Conference regular season championship on a blustery Thursday afternoon with a decisive 4-2 victory over rival Miami at the BSU Soccer Field.

"This is just a great achievement for our program and our players," first-year head coach Michelle Salmon said. "Our players have worked so hard all year long and they never stopped fighting as was evident this afternoon. This is a testament to our seniors who have taken Ball State Soccer to a championship level in their time here."

The title is the first for the Cardinals in program history as they win the MAC outright with an 8-2-1 conference mark. The Cardinals also earn the number one seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament and will once again face off against Miami who earned the eighth seed in the tournament. The win also raises the Cardinals' overall record to 13-3-3 on the season and the 13 wins are the third most in a single season in BSU history.

The Cardinals jumped out of the gate against the RedHawks in just the sixth minute of action as their high pressure was rewarded with a corner kick. Defender Lindsay Martin served the kick into the box where senior defender Sarah Maxwell got her head on the ball and blasted it into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of Maxwell's career and it came on senior day in her 79^th career game.

Ball State tapped into some more senior day magic in the 13^th minute of play as once again BSU's aggressiveness opened the door. The Cardinals picked up another corner kick that Martin drove into the box. This time senior midfielder Vandi Ogden got her head on the ball and drilled it past a diving Krista Pace for the two-goal lead.

"It was great to see Maxwell and Vandi get goals for us on senior day," Salmon said. "Max has been working hard on corner kicks this week and it was nice to see her hard work pay off."

Miami (7-9-2, 4-5-2 MAC) battled back and got on the board in the 15^th minute with a corner kick of its own. Kathleen Vistica, the MAC leader in points, corralled a loose ball in the box and tapped home the ball past BSU goalkeeper Rachael Murphy to narrow the BSU lead to, 2-1.

The goal is the first allowed by the Cardinals in the last four-plus games as it snapped a career-best shutout streak of 394:21 for Murphy.

The game remained close until the 55^th minute of action when the Cardinals put together a stellar goal. Midfielder Annie Aiello received a ball off of a passing sequence just inside the box and blasted a perfectly placed shot to the opposite top corner just beyond the outstretched hands of Pace for the 3-1 lead. Forwards Emily Rein and Sarah Leibel picked up assists on the goal with a pair of one-touch passes.

The Cardinals took their largest lead of the afternoon in the 62^nd minute as Aiello and Rein hooked up once again. This time Rein was the benefactor of an Aiello pass that put her into the open at the top of the box. Rein fired a shot that ricocheted off of the opposite goal post and into the back of the net for a 4-1 lead.

The RedHawks pulled back within two goals in the 67^th minute as they pressed the Cardinals in their rally attempt. Jodi Zwingelberg fired a shot that got past a diving Murphy but bounced off of the goal post and back into play. Allison Berkey was able to reach the loose ball before Murphy as she poked it into the back of the net to narrow the BSU lead to 4-2.

The Cardinals shut the door on the rally as they did not allow a shot over the final 22-plus minutes of the game. Ball State finished the game with a 19-7 shot advantage as they scored four goals for just the second time this season.

Murphy finished the afternoon with three saves as she is now tied for the conference lead with 13 victories on the year. Pace finished the game with five saves for the RedHawks in the loss.

The Cardinals will begin the MAC Tournament on Sunday afternoon as they will play host to the eighth seeded RedHawks in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. at BSU Soccer Field. The quarterfinal games are hosted by the top four seeds while the semifinals and finals are hosted by the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinals.

2006 MAC Women's Soccer Tournament Schedule

Quarterfinals -- Sunday, October 29 (at campus sites)

Game 1 -- No. 8 Miami at No. 1 Ball State, 1 p.m.

Game 2 -- No. 5 Toledo at No. 4 Bowling Green, 1 p.m.

Game 3 -- No. 6 Kent State at No. 3 Central Michigan, 1 p.m.

Game 4 -- No. 7 Northern Illinois at No. 2 Ohio, 1 p.m.

Semifinals -- Friday, November 3 (at highest remaining seed)

Game 5 -- Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, TBA

Game 6 -- Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, TBA

Championship -- Sunday, November 5 (at highest remaining seed)

Game 7 -- Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, TBA

MAC Soccer Tournament Bracket

####

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Annie Aiello

Sarah Leibel

Lindsay Martin

Sarah Maxwell

Rachael Murphy

Vandi Ogden

Emily Rein