Ball State University
Bowling Green
Soccer Picks Up Big 2-0 Road Victory over Bowling Green
September 29, 2006 | Soccer
Bowling Green, Ohio ? The Ball State soccer team continued its winning ways in Mid-American Conference action as the Cardinals knocked off Bowling Green, 2-0, in a battle of first-place teams on Friday afternoon at Cochrane Field.
The victory by the Cardinals improves them to 8-1-2 overall on the season and 3-0-0 in MAC play while also snapping the Falcons' 13-game unbeaten streak against conference opponents. The Cardinals become the first MAC team to register a win in Bowling Green since 2004.
"Today was a great day defensively for us," head coach Michelle Salmon said. "We used our defense to create numerous offensive opportunities. We had a total team effort on defense and turned in our best performance in our own end all season this afternoon."
The Cardinals opened the scoring against the Falcons in the 24th minute as forward Emily Rein got into the action. Rein was able to put pressure on the Falcon goalkeeper and intercepted a clearing attempt. She corralled the ball and placed it past the goalkeeper for the first goal of the afternoon. The goal is the fourth of the season for Rein and ties her with Sarah Schumacker for the team lead in scoring.
The Ball State goal is the first allowed by BGSU this season at home and the first since the end of the 2004 season as the Cardinals came in and snapped a home shutout streak of just over 924 minutes by the Falcons.
The Cardinals added an insurance goal in the 70th minute off of a set piece as they were awarded a corner kick courtesy their pressure. Midfielder Annie Aiello took the corner kick and drove a ball to Katelyn Alexander who placed it past a diving Tiffany Hansen for her second goal of the season.
The shutout is the third of the season for BSU and goalkeeper Rachael Murphy. Murphy finished the afternoon with two saves while Hansen tallied five saves in the loss for the Falcons.
The Cardinals' three straight victories in MAC play to open the season matches the program's best start in conference play as BSU also went 3-0-0 in 2003. The victory is also the third straight for BSU over Bowling Green, including the second straight shutout in the series.
The Cardinals will continue their road MAC weekend on Sunday afternoon as they travel to Toledo for a 1 p.m. contest at Scott Park.
####
