Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Central Michigan
Soccer Falls To Central Michigan, 2-0
October 24, 2010 | Soccer
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State soccer team dropped a hard fought battle to Mid-American Conference power Central Michigan 2-0 Sunday afternoon at the BSU Soccer Field in a game that was delayed 48 minutes due to lightening. The Cardinals fall to 6-10-2 overall and 0-8-2 in MAC play while CMU improves to 12-4-1 overall and 9-1-0 in league action.
Central Michigan controlled play from the start as it held a 24-7 edge in shots in the victory, including a 15-3 edge in the second half as Ball State played the final 29:27 a player short due to a red card. The Chippewas opened the scoring in the 12th minute of play as Laura Twidle found an opening at the top of the 18-yard box and ripped a bending shot into the side netting past freshman goalkeeper Layne Schramm (The Colony, Texas/The Colony) for the early 1-0 lead.
The teams battled back-and-forth for most of the first half in a heated contest that saw 35 total fouls and six cards issued. The Cardinals were able to withstand the early surge by CMU and head into the locker room trailing by just one goal.
The Chippewas finally broke through for the second goal of the afternoon in the 63rd minute as they were attacking inside the BSU 18-yard box when a Cardinal defender was called for a foul resulting in a penalty kick. Twidle calmly stepped forward and buried her second goal of the afternoon and her sixth of the season to make it a 2-0 game.
Ball State showed its mettle down the stretch as it kept attacking, despite being a player down due to the red card. Senior defender Tina Vannatta (Powhatan, Va./Springboro) had the Cardinals' top opportunity in the 73rd minute as she ripped a free kick from 30 yards out just over the cross bar after eluding CMU goalkeeper Stephanie Turner.
Schramm finished the game with six saves as she played all 90 minutes for the Cardinals. Shay Mannino tallied two saves in the first half while Turner recorded one save in the second half as CMU split goalkeeping duties.
Ball State wraps up the 2010 regular season Thursday afternoon as the Cardinals host Toledo at 3 p.m. at the BSU Soccer Field. The Rockets have already clinched a share of the MAC regular season title.
####
