Ball State University Athletics
Preview: Field Hockey Looks To Build On Strong 2006 Finish
August 16, 2007 | Field Hockey
The Ball State field hockey team heads into the 2007 season looking to build upon a strong 2006 finish that propelled the Cardinals to their best conference finish of the decade.
Ball State closed the 2006 season with wins in seven of its final 10 games, making a run all the way to the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game. The Cardinals' bid for a spot in an NCAA Tournament play-in game came up one goal short in an overtime loss to Ohio, but that couldn't overshadow the strides the team had already made.
Ball State strung together five consecutive conference victories from Sept. 29 through Oct. 17 and finished tied for second in the MAC with a 6-4 record. The number of league wins and the position in the final standings were the best the Cardinals had experienced since their last MAC Championship in 1999.
Those are numbers Ball State hopes to build upon in its 2007 campaign.
"Last year was an amazing ride," Ball State head coach Annette Payne said. "We worked hard last year, but we have to work even harder this year. We were a big surprise to a lot of people. They're probably going to look at us a little differently this year."
A group of five seniors will lead a Cardinal squad that returns seven starters and a total of 12 letterwinners from the 2006 team.
Senior midfielder Lauren Cruz returns as the most decorated of all the Ball State players, having earned recognition on the All-MAC Second Team each of the past two seasons.
Fellow midfielder Jamie Kahn returns for her senior season after logging four assists a year ago, and senior forward Katie Kloeckener will look to lead the Cardinal offensive attack after finishing fourth on the team in 2006 with nine points, including four goals.
On the defensive end of the field, seniors Nicole Humphreys and Amanda Pavone enter their fourth year in the starting lineup. The duo helped to anchor a defensive effort that limited opponents to 1.8 goals per game in conference play a season ago. Pavone also added four goals from her back position. Humphreys and Pavone have each started 55 of a possible 56 games in their Ball State careers.
"I expect a lot from this class," Payne said. "But as a coach, when you expect a lot, I think it should be a compliment. We've got five seniors now, and its their time to leave a mark."
Ball State will look to those five players to help ease the loss of three seniors from a year ago. Those three -- Carla Chiampi, Lindsay Quay and Tara Reed -- each earned All-MAC accolades, with Quay taking home the league's Player of the Year award. The trio accounted for 25 of the team's 35 goals in 2006.
"That was an awesome group, and the best way to say thank you is to continue this," Payne said. "I think that's the one thing they would probably want is for us to step up to the plate and continue the fire they helped light."
Ball State's five seniors will have support in their quest from a three-member junior class. Junior Melanie Pasillas started 19 games in 2006 and played both in the midfield and as a defender. Classmate Jodi Mann was a key contributor to the Cardinal defense and started 18 games. Casey Hunsicker rounds out the junior class as a midfielder and forward who played in all 20 games a season ago.
Behind the juniors are four sophomores who saw playing time as freshmen in 2006. Of the group, Brooke MacGillivary made the biggest impact, playing in 16 games as a midfielder and forward and scoring one goal. Sophomores Jess Woodward and Maura Sawicki saw action in three and two games, respectively, a season ago. Tiffany Shifflett, a sophomore goalkeeper, played in two games in 2006 for a total of 34:49 in the cage. She stopped three of the four shots she faced.
Shifflett will battle freshman Christina Niccum for the starting goalkeeper job in 2007. Niccum joins the program after transferring to Ball State. She did not play collegiate field hockey last season, but she did play at the club level.
"Players want the opportunity to play," Payne said. "Tiffany and Christina are both very eager, and they're both very willing and ready to do the job. We just have to train them, give them some experience and let them do what they're good at."
Niccum is one of seven newcomers to the Ball State program in 2007. She is joined in the freshman class by defender Elizabeth Blaum, midfielders Morgan Cloutier and Kaitlan Mitchell, and forwards Hannah Jones, Gretchen Lulow and Ellen Vonderbrink. The Cardinals will look to those seven players to step in and contribute early.
"We have to get them ready to go for the first match because some of them are going to get some experience right away," Payne said. "You want them to compete for those positions. You want them to believe that they can make a difference."
Ball State is scheduled to open the 2007 season in Pennsylvania against a pair of first-time opponents. The Cardinals will visit Villanova on Aug. 25 and LaSalle on Aug. 26 before returning to Muncie for the home-opener Aug. 31 against Louisville.
After struggling through the early portion of the schedule a year ago before turning their season around in conference play, the Cardinals are ready for a strong non-conference showing in 2007.
"I think we need to be successful in the non-conference. You can always learn from the non-conference, but I think this team is ready to learn by winning. That's what we're looking at from a coaching perspective -- to change our non-conference results, and that will ultimately change the conference."
The non-conference slate also features stops at Northwestern and Indiana in addition to a home date with Ohio State. The Cardinals open their 10-game MAC schedule Sept. 15 at home against Miami.
