Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Travels to Butler Thursday
September 13, 2006 | Soccer
This Weekend's Games . . .
The Cardinals will play two games this week as they hit the road on Thursday to take on regional rival Butler before coming home to the Ball State Soccer Field on Sunday against Xavier.
Series History . . .
The Cardinals and Bulldogs have met four times prior to Thursday's meeting with each team laying claim to two wins apiece. The Cardinals have won the past two meetings against Butler including a 3-2 victory last season in Muncie. In that game, Ball State rallied from a goal down to picked up the victory as Emily Rein notched two goals including the game-winner. Leah Johnson added the other goal while Laura Bandy and Sarah Schumacker each tallied assists in the BSU victory.
Sunday's meeting between the Cardinals and the Musketeers is just the second meeting all-time. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the only meeting in Cincinnati during the 2003 season.
About the Cardinals . . .
The Cardinals enter this week riding a two-game winning streak and a three-game unbeaten streak. BSU is coming off of its first 2-0 weekend of the year as the Cardinals downed Indiana State and Northwestern last week. The victory over Indiana State improved BSU to 6-0 all-time against the Sycamores while the victory over Northwestern improved the Cardinals to 3-1 all-time against the Big Ten.
The Cardinals have scored 11 goals so far this season and nine different players have found the back of the net. Forward Sarah Leibel and midfielder Amy Holst lead the way with two goals apiece. Goalkeeper Rachael Murphy has played all 590 minutes this season and boasts a 0.92 goals against average.
About the Bulldogs . . .
Butler comes into the game with a 2-3-0 record on the year as the Bulldogs dropped two games at the Navy Tournament last weekend. Butler fell to Villanova and host Navy by an 8-1 total.
So far this season, the Bulldogs have only scored four goals in five games with no player registering more than one goal. Butler has picked up victories this season against Western Kentucky and Mid-American Conference member Miami.
About the Musketeers . . .
Xavier enters the week with a 2-4-0 record and will face Morehead State on Friday prior to its game against Ball State. The Musketeers had a two-game winning streak snapped with a loss against Louisville. The Cardinals will be the third MAC team that Xavier has faced as it lost to Bowling Green before picking up a win over Ohio.
The Musketeers have scored six goals so far this season with Angie Scarlato leading the way with three goals.
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 11 of the 14 team statistical categories. BSU is second in the league in shots per game (15.83), points per game (5.00), goals per game (1.83), assists per game (1.33) as well as leading the MAC in corner kicks per game at 6.33.
Home Sweet Home . . .
The Cardinals return home to the friendly confines of the Ball State Soccer Field on Sunday where they hold a 38-21-7 mark all-time. The Cardinals are coming off of an 8-1-1 home record last fall and have only lost two games in Muncie over the past two seasons.
Below is a list of the Cardinals' home records over the years:
2006 - 1-0-0
2005 - 8-1-1
2004 - 3-1-4
2003 - 6-4-0
2002 - 8-2-0
2001 - 7-2-0
2000 - 5-5-1
1999 - 0-6-1
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.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals will open up Mid-American Conference action next weekend when they host Kent State and Buffalo at the BSU Soccer Field.
