Soccer Opens Home Schedule Friday Afternoon

MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State soccer team opens the home portion of the 2008 schedule this weekend as the Cardinals host Eastern Illinois Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the BSU Soccer Field. Ball State will also welcome in Southern Methodist Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

“It is great to finally be home this season after three weeks on the road,” head coach Michael Lovett said. “The road is taken a toll on our team mentally and physically, but we are ready to feed off of our home crowd and the energy that the Ball State Hooligans provide for us. The weather will be a factor for both teams this weekend, but the support that our fans give us will provide us with an advantage.”

The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 1-3-0 record on the year with their first four games coming on the road. Ball State posted a 1-1-0 record last weekend in Colorado picking up its first victory of the season at Air Force 1-0 on Friday, before falling at Colorado College 2-0 on Sunday.

The victory against Air Force was the first victory for Lovett at the helm of the Cardinals. Junior forward Megan Ridley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) scored the game-winning goal in the first half off a corner kick. The goal was the first of the season for Ridley and her first goal since her freshman year. Senior midfielder Katelyn Alexander (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) picked up her first assist of the season on the goal.

Junior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) recorded three saves against Air Force to claim her first shutout of the season. The shutout was the 18^th of her career moving her into a tie with former Cardinal Alison Becker for the top mark all-time in career shutouts at BSU.

Friday's game marks the 10^th home opener for the Cardinals in program history. The Cardinals are 6-2-1 all-time in home openers, having won three straight and are unbeaten in the past five. Last season, the Cardinals opened the home schedule with a 5-1 victory over IPFW.

Ball State and Eastern Illinois have met one time prior to Friday's contest with the Panthers picking up a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals last season. The Cardinals out-shot the Panthers by a 22-5 margin in the loss.

Eastern Illinois enters the weekend with an 0-5-1 record on the season. The Panthers tied Northern Iowa this season while falling at Indiana State, at Purdue, at Northern Illinois, against Wright State and most recently against Eastern Michigan.

The Panthers have been out-scored this season by a 12-1 margin, including a 4-0 loss to EMU last Sunday. The Panthers have been shutout five of their past six games, including four straight contests. Ashley Eck is the only Panther to score this season as she notched a goal at No. 25 Purdue.

Sunday's game between Ball State and SMU marks the first ever meeting between the two schools. This is the second game this season for the Cardinals against a Conference USA program after BSU played Colorado College last weekend.

Southern Methodist enters this weekend with a 1-2-1 record on the year. The Mustangs picked up a win against Prairie View A&M this season and tied Mississippi. SMU dropped games at home to Oklahoma State and No. 25 Kansas. The Mustangs are making their first road trip of the season this weekend and will face No. 2 Notre Dame on Friday night.

SMU has scored seven goals this season and has allowed seven goals against. The Mustangs have had five different players find the back of the net with Caitlin Carter leading the way with three goals on the season.

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Ball State University Athletics

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Katelyn Alexander

Rachael Murphy

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