OXFORD, Ohio ? The Ball State field hockey team opens the 2008 season in the Miami Kick-Off Classic. The Cardinals begin a two-game stretch Saturday at 11 a.m. versus the University of Richmond before facing Davidson Sunday at 1 p.m.
“With this being the first weekend of the season, we are going to focus on Ball State and not on our opponents,” head coach Annette Payne said. “We are going to focus on our team and what we need to work on. We are looking for our team to make the adjustments on the field that need to be made and stay together for 70 minutes.”
Ball State returns 11 letterwinners from last year's 5-13 team. The Cardinals are highlighted by junior forward Brooke MacGillivary (North Vancouver, B.C./Carson Graham), who earned First Team All-MAC last season, as well as senior forward Casey Hunsicker (Myerstown, Pa./Tulpehocken). MacGillivary led the team in scoring last season as she tallied 15 goals while Hunsicker was second on the squad with five goals.
Seniors defenders Jodi Mann (Clifton, Va./Centreville) and Melanie Pasillas (Glendora, Calif./Glendora) also sparked the BSU offense by combining for three assists last season. Junior goalkeeper Tiffany Shifflett (Yorktown, Va./Hampton Roads Academy) finished the season tied the fourth-highest single-season saves total in school history with 149.
Saturday's game marks the second meeting all-time between Ball State and Richmond. Ball State won the previous meeting 4-1 at home in 1999. Sunday's game is the first meeting all-time between the Cardinals and Davidson. Richmond finished third in the Atlantic 10 in 2007 while Davidson is coming off its best record since 1999 at 10-10.
This weekend's tournament marks the Cardinals' first games of the season after traveling to Indiana last week for a scrimmage. The Cardinals and Hoosiers will play a regular season game on September 20 at the BSU Turf Field.
“We used the scrimmage against Indiana as an identification of where we are as a team and where we need to be,” Payne said. “Now we just have to use that experience to our advantage.”
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