Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Travels To Mountain Classic
August 31, 2006 | Soccer
This Weekend's Games . . .
The Cardinals continue their season opening road swing with a pair of games in the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Mountain Classic in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Cardinals will play two games in the Classic beginning with a Friday night game against host Northern Arizona. Ball State faces Portland State on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the weekend.
Television Air Time . . .
The Cardinals game on Friday night against the Lumberjacks will be broadcast online courtesy of bigskytv.org. Ball State fans can access the online broadcast by logging into www.ballstatesports.com and following the link on the soccer page.
Series History . . .
This weekend will mark the Cardinals' first ever meetings with both Northern Arizona and Portland State. In fact, the trip to NAU will mark the farthest west the Ball State soccer team has travelled in program history.
About the Cardinals . . .
The Cardinals come into the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Mountain Classic with a 1-0-1 record on the young campaign. The Cardinals opened the 2006 season last weekend with a 5-1 victory over IPFW. Ball State rounded out the opening weekend with a 1-1 double overtime tie at Illinois State.
The Cardinals have had six different players notch goals in the two games including a game-winning goal from Katelyn Alexander. Vandi Ogden and Sarah Schumacker lead the way with a goal and an assist after the first weekend. Goalkeeper Rachael Murphy has played all 200 minutes in net this season as she boasts a 0.90 goals against average.
About the Lumberjacks . . .
Northern Arizona comes into the Mountain Classic with a 0-1-0 record on the year as the Lumberjacks dropped a 3-0 decision at Cal State-Northridge last weekend.
The Lumberjacks are coming off of a 10-11-0 season in 2005 in which they finished third in the Big Sky Conference. NAU was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky this season.
About the Vikings . . .
Portland State heads into the weekend with a 0-2-0 record on the year as the Vikings have dropped a pair of 1-0 games at Pacific and at home to Long Beach State. The Vikings will open the Mountain Classic on Friday afternoon as they face MAC foe Toledo.
The Vikings are coming off of a 5-11-2 season last fall and were picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky Conference.
Midseason Tournaments . . .
This weekend the Cardinals take part in the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Mountain Classic which marks the fourth time in eight years that BSU has participated in a midseason tournament.
The Cardinals are 6-0-0 all-time in midseason tournaments as they posted perfect 2-0 weekends in 2004 at Central Michigan, in 2002 at Mercer and in 2001 at Southeast Missouri.
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.
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.
Cardinals' Regional Buzz . . .
Ball State has drawn some regional accolades already this season as the Cardinals are ranked 13th in the Great Lakes Region by Soccerbuzz in the latest rankings. The Cardinals are one of only two Mid-American Conference teams to be ranked in the regional polls as they join Central Michigan which is ranked ninth in the Great Lakes Region.
Did You Know? . . .
The Cardinals return 78 percent of their goal scoring from last season and 88 percent of their overall point production from last season.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals will hold their 2006 home opener next weekend as BSU hosts in-state foe Indiana State Friday at the Ball State Soccer Field.
