Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Hosts NIU And WMU This Weekend
October 22, 2009 | Soccer
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals wrap up the home portion of the 2009 regular season this weekend as they host Northern Illinois Friday afternoon and Western Michigan Sunday afternoon at the BSU Soccer Field ... Sunday's game will also be the Cardinals' senior day as goalkeeper Amy Cleeter and midfielder Megan Ridley will be recognized before the contest ... Both games will be broadcast on 91.3 WCRD FM and online at www.ballstatesports.com ... Also, live stats for both games with be available at www.ballstatesports.com.
Breaking Down The MAC . . .
The Cardinals enter the final two weeks of the regular season with a 2-6-0 record in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State currently sits in a tie for 10th in the MAC with six points on the season ... The top eight teams in the MAC standings earn a spot in the MAC Tournament ... Central Michigan (24 points) and Toledo (16 points) have already clinched spots in the tournament ... The Cardinals trail current eighth place team Western Michigan by just two points, with Buffalo (seven), Bowling Green (six) and Northern Illinois (two) vying for the final spot ... Also, Kent State is in seventh place with 11 points while Akron and Miami are tied for fifth with 13 points ... Team are awarded three points for a victory and one point for a tie.
Series History . . .
Friday's game marks the 11th meeting all-time between Ball State and Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series by a 4-3-3 mark and are 4-1-2 over the past seven seasons against the Huskies ... Last season, the Cardinals suffered a 1-0 loss in DeKalb as Thea Johnson scored an unassisted goal in the 55th minute of play ... In 2007, the Cardinals and Huskies battled to a scoreless tie in Muncie that saw both teams record 15 shots apiece.
Sunday's game is 13th meeting all-time between Ball State and Western Michigan ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series by a 6-5-1 mark and are 3-1 over the past four seasons against the Broncos ... Last year, WMU claimed a 1-0 victory as Kelsey Carmichael scored in the 53rd minute for the game's only tally ... Two years ago, BSU defeated the Broncos 2-0 in Muncie as the Cardinals out-shot WMU by a 22-5 margin.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Friday's game with a 4-11-0 overall record and a 2-6-0 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have dropped five straight MAC games heading into the weekend, including losses last weekend at Ohio and Akron ... Ball State has scored 17 goals this season with senior midfielder Megan Ridley leading the way with four goals and three assists ... Junior forward Jacki Eft is second on the team in scoring with seven points as she has dished out a team-high five assists and scored one goal ... Freshman goalkeeper Nicole Wood has played 1083:44 minutes in goal this year and has a 2.41 goals against average.
Scouting The Huskies . . .
Northern Illinois enters Friday's game with a 4-10-2 overall record and an 0-6-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Huskies have dropped six straight in conference play, including two one-goal defeats at Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan last weekend ... NIU has scored 11 goals this season with Kelsey Passaglia and Lisa Maier leading the way with two goals apiece ... In goal, Lindsey Curnock has played all but 14 minutes in net and owns a 1.02 goals against average.
Scouting The Broncos . . .
Western Michigan enters the weekend with a 5-7-3 overall record and a 2-4-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Broncos have dropped two out of their last three games with losses to Ohio, Buffalo and a tie at Kent State ... WMU has scored 16 goals this season and has allowed 16 goals against ... Stephanie Skowneski leads the team in scoring with seven points on the strength of three goals and an assist ... In goal, the Broncos have used two goalkeepers with Julie Francy playing eight games with a 0.95 goals against average and Sarah Phillips playing five games with a 1.53 goals against average.
Moving Up The Charts . . .
Senior midfielder Megan Ridley leads the team in scoring this season with 11 points, on the strength of four goals and three assists ... Ridley, a First Team All-Mid-American Conference selection last season, has tallied 10 goals in her career ... She moved into a tie for eighth all-time in BSU scoring history with Lindsay Wiltshire and Annie Aiello ... Dee Nocero holds the all-time record with 30 career goals between 2001-04 ... Also, Ridley is now in sole possession of 10th all-time in career points with 28.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Ball State has benefited from some home field advantage at the BSU Soccer Field as it owns a 60-27-11 (.668) record in program history ... The Cardinals have posted a .500 or better record at home in nine out of their 10 seasons, including a 6-1-1 mark last fall ... Over the past five seasons, the Cardinals have a .745 winning percentage at home as they are 32-8-9 during that span ... Additionally, since the beginning of the 2007 season the Cardinals are 17-3-3 at home and have out-scored opponents by a 44-16 margin.
So far this season, the Cardinals are 3-1-0 at home with victories over SIU-Edwardsville, Lipscomb and Bowling Green ... Ball State had a program-record 808 fans come out to enjoy the Cardinals' 4-0 victory over Lipscomb Friday ... The 808 fans sets a new record for attendance at the BSU Soccer Field, surpassing the previous mark of 759 fans September 30, 2007 against Eastern Michigan.
Freshman Scorers . . .
Freshmen forward Paige Stroinski, forward Maggie Brown and defender Brigit Reder have each scored their first career collegiate goals this season ... Reder tallied her first career goal Sunday afternoon as she netted the game-winning goal against Buffalo ... Stroinski and Brown each recorded their first career collegiate goals against SIU-Edwardsville ... The two freshmen are the first Ball State rookies to score their first career goals in the same game since August 26, 2005 ... In that game, former Cardinals Emily Rein and Annie Aiello scored their first career goals in Ball State's 3-0 victory against Indiana State ... In fact, the game marked the first time Ball State has had two freshmen score in the same game since 2005.
Fresh Faces In The Crowd . . .
The Cardinals welcomed in nine true freshmen to the team this season, marking one of the largest recruiting classes in recent history ... Joining the team this fall are defender Skylar Chew, defender Amanda Dreyfus, goalkeeper Nicole Wood, defender Brigit Reder, midfielder Maggie Brown, defender Coco Cammon, forward Lindsey Dorroh, midfielder Alyssa Ables and forward Paige Stroinski.
The freshmen class will help to replace last season's seven-member senior class.
Road Warriors . . .
Ball State opened the 2009 season with five straight road games for the first time in program history ... The Cardinals have opened with four straight road games on five different occasions, including last season ... Ball State will play just six of its 18 games at home this season ... The Cardinals are in the road portion of the unbalanced Mid-American Conference schedule this season with only four home MAC contests compared to seven road league games.
Did You Know? . . .
The Cardinals have qualified for the Mid-American Conference Tournament eight times in their 10-year history, with all eight appearances coming from 2001-2008.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State closes out the 2009 regular season on the road as it faces rival Miami in Oxford, Ohio Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.
