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Buffalo at Ball State (ONLY)
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MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State soccer team opens the home portion of the 2008 Mid-American Conference season this weekend as the Cardinals host Buffalo Friday at 4 p.m. and Kent State Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission, as always, is FREE at the BSU Soccer Field.
Friday's game will be broadcast on channel 57 and online at www.ballstatesports.com for free by the Ball State Sports Link. Sunday's game will see the Cardinals commemorate their 2007 MAC regular season championship with a ring ceremony following the game.
“We have a very challenging weekend ahead of us,” head coach Michael Lovett said. “Both of these teams are scary teams for different reasons. Buffalo comes into the weekend with a chip on its shoulder and Kent State enters the weekend with a lot of confidence. We have to concentrate on coming out with a lot of energy and play the type of Ball State soccer our fans are accustomed to seeing.”
Ball State (5-5-0, 1-1-0 MAC) comes into the weekend after splitting a pair of MAC road games last weekend. The Cardinals opened MAC play with a 3-0 loss at Central Michigan before rebounding with a three-goal victory at Eastern Michigan. The Cardinals are one of eight teams in the MAC that opened conference play with a weekend split.
The Cardinals have scored 12 goals through the first 10 games of the season with eight different players finding the back of the net. Senior forward Emily Rein (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) leads the team with seven points on the strength of two goals and three assists. Sophomore forward Jacki Eft (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) leads the team in scoring with three goals.
Junior midfielder Megan Ridley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) has scored two goals this season and both goals have been game-winning goals. Senior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) owns a 1.05 goals against average this season as Ball State has allowed 11 goals against so far this season.
Friday's game marks the 10th MAC home opener in Ball State history. The Cardinals have been strong in home conference openers as they have a 6-1-2 record all-time. Ball State has won the past three home MAC openers and is unbeaten in the past seven contests (6-0-1).
Friday's meeting between Ball State and Buffalo marks the 10th meeting all-time between the two teams. The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 4-5-0 record. Ball State is 3-1-0 all-time against Buffalo at home in Muncie.
Last season, the Cardinals dropped a 1-0 loss in the driving rain at Buffalo. The Bulls were the only team in the MAC last season to defeat the Cardinals. In that game, Buffalo scored in the sixth minute as Caitlin Higgins found the back of the net form 35-yards out. Ball State held a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks as it furiously tried to tie the game.
Buffalo enters the weekend with a 4-3-2 overall record and an 0-2-0 mark in MAC play. The Bulls have dropped three straight and are 0-3-2 over their past five contests. Buffalo opened MAC play with a pair of 2-1 loss at home to Akron and Ohio.
Buffalo has scored 12 goals through the first nine games of the season while allowing seven goals against. Lindsey Bailey leads the team with 12 points on the strength of five goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Amy Coron has played nearly all of UB's minutes in goal this season and owns an 0.74 goals against average.
Sunday's game marks the 11th meeting all-time between the Cardinals and Golden Flashes. Ball State holds a 5-3-2 record all-time against Kent State and has won three straight regular season meetings with the Golden Flashes.
Last season, the Cardinals rebounded from their loss at Buffalo to claim a 2-1 victory at Kent State. The Cardinals scored two goals in a span of two minutes in the first half to secure the victory. Rein scored off an assist from Kristina Anderson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) in the 39th minute while Sarah Schumacker (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) scored off an assist from Ridley in the 41st minute.
Kent State enters the weekend with a 5-4-0 record overall and a 2-0-0 mark in conference play. The Golden Flashes enter the weekend in first place in the MAC after picking up wins at home against Akron and Ohio. KSU will play at Miami on Friday afternoon to open its MAC weekend.
Kent State has scored 13 goals this season through the first nine games of the year while allowing nine goals against. Catharine Marosszeky leads the team with seven points and is tied for the team lead with three goals.
Kent State has split time in goal between two goalkeepers with Kelly Sherwood getting the majority of time with a 4-2-0 record. Sherwood boasts an 0.91 goals against average this season.
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