Soccer Falls At Miami In Season Opener, 5-1

Friday, August 28

Coral Gables, Fla.

7:30 p.m.

Ball State University

Miami

August 29, 2009 | Soccer

By: Ball State Athletics

            CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The Ball State soccer team opened the 2009 season Friday night against 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Miami and suffered a 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes. The loss drops the Cardinals to 0-1-0 on the season while Miami improves to 2-1-0 on the year.

            "Tonight was a tough game against a very good Miami team," head coach Michael Lovett said. "We did some good things on defense, especially in the first half, but we have some things we need to work on as we go forward. We will learn from this game, regroup tomorrow and prepare for Sunday's contest against Florida Atlantic."

            The Cardinals started the contest strong running toe-to-toe in the first 15 minutes against the Hurricanes before Miami seized control. The Hurricanes scored two goals down the stretch in the first half against senior goalkeeper Amy Cleeter (Aurora, Ind./South Dearborn) as Kate Howarth found the back of the net twice to put Miami ahead 2-0 heading into the locker room.

            Ball State regrouped at halftime and made some adjustments as it held its own to start the second half. The Cardinals pulled within one goal in the 54th minute as junior midfielder Meg Mellott (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) scored BSU's first goal of the season. Freshman defender Skylar Chew (Mason, Ohio/Mason) came down the right side and found Mellott inside the 18-yard box where she one-touched the pass into the upper corner around Miami goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo.

            The Hurricanes quickly came back and move the lead back to two goals as Beverly Goebel turned in a strong individual effort as she maneuvered through the defense to find Julianne Rickers for the third goal of the game in the 56^th minute. Miami added two more goals down the stretch to claim the four-goal victory.

            Ball State finished the contest being out-shot 16-10 as junior forward Missy Gordon (Carmel, Ind./Marshall) led the way with two shots. Cleeter was charged with four goals as she made two saves before giving way to freshman goalkeeper Nicole Wood (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville). Alonzo picked up the victory as she tallied five saves on the night.

            The Cardinals will continue their road swing through the Sunshine State Sunday afternoon as they take on Florida Atlantic at noon in Boca Raton.

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