LIVE STATS
AKRON, Ohio ? The Ball State soccer team will wrap up its first road weekend in Mid-American Conference action on Sunday afternoon as the Cardinals take on Akron at Lee Jackson Field at 1 p.m. The Cardinals enter the game with a 6-4-0 record overall and a 3-0-0 mark in MAC play, while Akron owns a 6-2-3 overall record and a 1-1-1 mark in the conference.
“We are excited about taking the field against a very good Akron team that picked up a good result on Friday night,” second-year head coach Michelle Salmon said. “This is going to be another hard fought MAC game and we look forward to that challenge.”
The Cardinals, who are tied for the top spot in the MAC with Toledo, are coming off of a 1-0 victory at Ohio on Friday afternoon. Ball State battled through hot weather conditions on Friday to grind out the shutout. The Cardinal defense was stellar again as it limited the Bobcats to just two shots on goal, while posting its fourth straight shutout. Ball State has allowed a conference-low eight goals against this season and junior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) owns a 0.61 goals against average.
Junior forward Emily Rein (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) tallied her third goal of the season in the victory as she scored in the 77th minute to give the Cardinals the only goal of the game. Rein leads the team in scoring with three goals and three assists. She now has scored 19 career goals to sit in a tie with Eileen Weinheimer for fourth all-time in career goals in BSU history.
Sunday's game is the seventh meeting all-time between Ball State and Akron. The Cardinals hold a 4-0-2 mark against the Zips all-time, including a 3-0 victory last season in Muncie. Last year, former Cardinal Amy Holst broke out and recorded the first hat trick in program history as she scored goals in the eighth, 16th and 40th minute of the game.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 first half lead and never looked back as they out-shot Akron by a 21-4 margin. Lindsay Martin (Hamilton, Ohio/Lakota West), Sarah Schumacker (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) and Megan Ridley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) each picked up assists in the victory.
Akron enters the game after a scoreless tie against Miami on Friday night. The Zips battled back and forth against the RedHawks in the evenly matched contest as shots were 13-10 in Miami's favor. Akron has scored 14 goals so far this season and has allowed 11 goals against through the first 11 games.
Forward Britni Back leads the Zips on offense as she has scored five goals and has dished out three assists. Her 13 points are second most in the MAC this season. In goal, Krystin Wilson has played ever second for Akron and owns a 0.93 goals against average
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