Soccer Falters At Western Michigan, 1-0

Friday, October 24

Kalamazoo, Mich.

4 p.m.

Ball State University

Western Michigan

Soccer Opens Home Schedule Friday Afternoon

October 24, 2008 | Soccer

By: Ball State Athletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? The Ball State soccer team dropped a hard fought 1-0 contest in the driving rain against Western Michigan on Friday afternoon at the WMU Soccer Complex in Mid-American Conference action. The loss drops the Cardinals to 8-8-1 overall and 4-4-1 in MAC play, while the Broncos improve to 6-9-1 overall and 5-3-1 in conference action.

“Today was a tough game because of the elements,” head coach Michael Lovett said. “We fought hard all the way to the end but we just didn't put the ball into the back of the net. Our defense deserves a lot of credit for keeping us in the game as they were fantastic today and WMU was able to capitalize on an unfortunate deflection. We will refocus and get ready for Sunday afternoon.”

The Cardinals controlled the tempo for most of the game as they held a 15-11 advantage in shots and a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Ball State had a couple of chances in the early going as senior defender Sarah Schumacker (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) had a shot stopped by WMU goalkeeper Julia Francy in the 15^th minute. The Cardinals had an opportunity in the 21^st minute off of a corner kick but junior defender Patti Hoes (Northville, Mich./Ladywood) had her shot sail just wide of the post.

Western Michigan found the only goal of the game in the 53^rd minute as it took advantage of a favorable bounce. Kelsey Carmichael was able to get off a shot from 18-yards out that deflected off of a BSU defender and was redirected past senior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville).

The Cardinals battled back trying to tie the game as they recorded five straight shots after the WMU goal. Sophomore forward Jacki Eft (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) had a chance in the 59^th minute saved by Francy while senior midfielder Katelyn Alexander (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) was stopped in the 66th minute.

Ball State appeared to tie the game in the 85^th minute as junior midfielder Megan Ridley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) scored off of a cross, but Ridley was called for a foul on Francy to disallow the goal.

Alexander led all Cardinals with three shots in the loss as Ball State had nine different players record a shot. Murphy finished the game with three saves while Francy recorded five saves for the Broncos.

The Cardinals will wrap up the road portion of the 2008 regular season Sunday afternoon as they take on MAC foe Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. (ET).

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