LIVE STATS
MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State soccer team will wrap up the 2007 regular season on the road Thursday afternoon as the Cardinals face off against Mid-American Conference rival Miami at 4 p.m. at the Miami Soccer Field.
The Cardinals, the defending MAC regular season champions, enter the final game of the regular season with a one-point lead in the MAC standings as they are 11-5-1 overall and 8-1-1 in conference play. Ball State holds a one-point lead over second place Toledo for the regular season championship, with wins counting as three points and ties as one point in the standings.
“We are excited about playing against a very good Miami team on Thursday,” second-year head coach Michelle Salmon said. “Obviously, there are conference implications with Thursday's game. It is a testament to our program that we are in this position for the second straight season. We want to come out and focus on playing our best Ball State Soccer tomorrow afternoon.”
The Cardinals are coming off of a 2-1 victory last weekend at Kent State as they rebounded from their first conference loss of the season. Ball State scored two goals in a span of two minutes in the first half to secure the victory over the Golden Flashes. Junior forward Emily Rein (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) scored the game's first goal in the 39th minute, while classmate Sarah Schumacker (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) added the second goal in the 41st minute.
The Cardinals have used a balanced scoring attack this season as seven different players have found the back of the net. Rein leads the team in scoring with 17 points as she has scored six goals and dished out five assists. She has scored five of her goals in MAC play, including a conference-best three game-winning goals against MAC opponents.
Senior forward Sarah Leibel (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) is tied for second on the team in scoring with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Juniors Katelyn Alexander (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and Schumacker round out the double-figure scorers with 10 points apiece.
The Ball State defense has been stellar this season as it has allowed just 12 goals against, including four in conference play. Junior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) is second in the MAC with a 0.57 goals against average overall and leads the conference with a 0.38 goals against average in MAC play.
Thursday's game is the 10th meeting all-time between the Cardinals and the RedHawks. The series has been an evenly matched affair through its history with the teams deadlocked at 4-4-1 all-time against each other. The Cardinals have won the past four regular season meetings against Miami.
Last season, the Cardinals closed out the regular season and clinched their first ever MAC championship with a 4-2 victory over the RedHawks. Miami got revenge only four days later as it knocked the top-seeded Cardinals out of the MAC Tournament with a 2-1 victory in Muncie.
In the regular season meeting, the Cardinals struck early against the RedHawks as former Cardinal Sarah Maxwell scored off of a corner kick from defender Lindsay Martin (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) in the sixth minute. The Cardinals struck again from the corner as Martin found Vandi Ogden in the 13th minute to give BSU the early lead.
After a Miami goal in the 15th minute closed the first half scoring, the Cardinals came out in the second half and scored two goals in a span of seven minutes to put the game out of reach. Midfielder Annie Aiello (Granger, Ind./Penn) found the back of the net in the 55th minute off of passes from Leibel and Rein.
Rein closed out the Cardinals' scoring in the 62nd minute as she rifled a shot off of the post and into the back of the net. Aiello picked up an assist on the fourth goal.
In the MAC Tournament, the Cardinals dominated play as they out-shot the RedHawks by a 23-11 margin, including a 16-7 advantage in the second half. Miami goalkeeper Krista Pace turned in a strong effort as she tallied a game-high 11 saves.
Miami opened the scoring in the 17th minute off of a corner kick. The RedHawks took a two-goal lead in the second half off of a free kick and Pace controlled the goal to keep the Cardinals at bay. Ball State finally found the back of the net in the 86th minute as Aiello found Rein in behind the defense and she buried a header to narrow the deficit to one goal.
Miami enters Thursday's game with a 6-8-3 overall record and a 4-5-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The RedHawks secured a bid into the 2007 MAC Tournament last weekend with a 2-1 victory at Buffalo. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the RedHawks in conference play.
Miami has scored 23 goals so far this season and has allowed 24 goals against. Leading the charge offensively is Sara Lund who has scored seven goals and handed out five assists. Also, Julie Thomas is second on the team with five goals on the year.
In goal, sophomore goalkeeper Krista Pace leads Miami as she owns a 1.36 goals against average. She is already the all-time leader in Miami history in saves with 116.
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