Ball State at Air Force (LIVE STATS)
Ball State at Colorado College (LIVE STATS)
MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State soccer team makes its first ever trip to the state of Colorado this weekend as the Cardinals take on Air Force on Friday night at 6 p.m. (MT) at the Cadet Soccer Stadium. Ball State also faces Colorado College on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. (MT) at Stewart Field to round out the weekend.
“This weekend is a good opportunity for us to play two strong teams out of our region,” head coach Michael Lovett said. “We want to build off of our strong play from last weekend against Oklahoma and we want to take the next step in our evolution as a soccer team this weekend.”
The Cardinals (0-2-0) are coming off of a hard fought 2-1 loss at Oklahoma last weekend. Ball State held a 1-0 lead at halftime before the Sooners rallied for two second half goals to secure the victory. Senior forward Sarah Schumacker (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) scored the Cardinals' lone goal off of an assist from classmate Emily Rein (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills).
Senior goalkeeper Rachael Murphy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) turned in a strong performance against the Sooners as she recorded three saves in 90 minutes of action. She owns a 1.33 goals against average on the young season for the Cardinals.
The weekend's games will mark the Cardinals' first ever meetings with both Air Force and Colorado College. Five of the Cardinals' eight non-conference opponents this season are first time opponents for BSU. The games will also mark just the second time that Ball State has traveled to the west region in program history with the first time coming in the 2006 season at the Northern Arizona Tournament.
Air Force enters the weekend with a 0-3-0 record on the young season as the Falcons have dropped games against Northern Colorado, Idaho State and Valparaiso. Air Force most recently lost a 1-0 contest at home against Valpo last Sunday, matching the Cardinals' score against the Crusaders. The Falcons are coming off of a 2-14-2 record in 2007 and have 20 newcomers on this year's team.
Colorado College enters the weekend with a 3-0-0 record having picked up wins against Oklahoma, Valparaiso and Idaho State. The Tigers are 2-0-0 against common opponents of the Cardinals this season. Colorado College is set to play Long Island on Friday afternoon to start the weekend. The Tigers are coming off of a 10-6-3 record in 2007 and return 18 letterwinners from that team.
####
