KENT, Ohio ? The Ball State soccer team continues its regular season-ending three-game road swing on Sunday afternoon as the Cardinals face Kent State in a Mid-American Conference battle at the Kent State Soccer Field. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
“We are excited about getting back on the field Sunday,” second-year head coach Michelle Salmon said. “We know we are facing a very good in Kent State. Right now, our focus is for us to play our best soccer the rest of the season.”
The Cardinals enter Sunday's game with a 10-5-1 overall record and sit alone in first place in the MAC with a 7-1-1 conference mark. The Cardinals hold a one-point lead over second place Toledo with two games remaining in the regular season before the 2007 MAC Tournament.
Ball State is coming off of a hard fought 1-0 loss at Buffalo on a rain-drenched Friday afternoon. The Cardinals allowed an early Buffalo goal and were unable to secure the tying goal despite out-shooting UB by a 16-12 margin. The loss was the first of the season for the Cardinals in conference play this year and it snapped BSU's 13-game unbeaten streak in MAC play dating back to last season.
The Cardinals have scored 21 goals so far this season with five different players having scored at least three goals. Junior forward Emily Rein (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) leads the attack with five goals and five assists while senior Sarah Leibel (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) has scored four goals and handed out two assists.
Juniors Katelyn Alexander (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll), Annie Aiello (Granger, Ind./Penn) and Sarah Schumacker (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) round out the Cardinal scorers with at least three goals this season. Aiello has scored a MAC-best four goals from the penalty spot so far this season.
Defensively, the Cardinals have allowed just 11 goals against this year overall, including just three goals against in conference play. Junior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) owns a 0.54 goals against average overall while turning in a 0.32 mark in MAC action.
Sunday's game is the 10th meeting all-time between Ball State and Kent State with the Cardinals holding a slim 4-3-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Cardinals took home a 3-1 victory in their MAC opener last season in Muncie.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the ninth minute as Vandi Ogden scoring from 20-yards out off of a pass from Schumacker. After Kent State tied the game in the 22nd minute, midfielder Megan Ridley (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) gave the Cardinals the lead for good with a penalty kick goal in the 41st minute.
Schumacker closed out the scoring in the 79th minute as she tucked away a goal off of a corner kick from Alexander. Ball State held a 20-9 advantage in shots over the Golden Flashes.
Kent State enters Sunday's game with a 7-8-1 overall record and sits alone in fourth place in the MAC with a 5-4-0 conference mark. The Golden Flashes are coming off of a strong 2-0 victory on Friday afternoon over conference foe Miami.
Kent State has scored 17 goals so far this season and has allowed 19 goals against. Leading the way offensively, Kimberly Dimitroff paces the attack with five goals and two assists. In goal, Kris Nelson has played every minute in net for the Golden Flashes and owns a 1.13 goals against average.
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