Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Hosts Toledo Thursday In Season Finale
October 28, 2010 | Soccer
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State wraps up the 2010 season Thursday afternoon as the Cardinals host Mid-American Conference front runner Toledo at 3 p.m. at the BSU Soccer Field ... BSU enters the contest with a 6-10-2 record overall and an 0-8-2 mark in MAC play while Toledo enters the game with a 14-2-2 overall record and an 10-0-0 mark in league action.
Series History . . .
Thursday's game marks the 12th meeting all-time between Ball State and Toledo ... The Cardinals hold a 7-4-0 record all-time against the Rockets but have dropped the past two meetings against Toledo ... BSU is 4-2-0 all-time against the Rockets in Muncie.
Last year, the Cardinals suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Rockets 4-3 in Muncie ... In that game, the Cardinals scored three first half goals to open to a 3-0 lead just 40 minutes into the game ... Megan Ridley, Missy Gordon and Maggie Brown found the back of the net for BSU ... Toledo rallied for three goals in the ensuing 25 minutes to tie the game at 3-3 in the 65th minute of play as Ali Leak scored two straight goals for the Rockets ... Toledo made the comeback complete in the final second of regulation as Molly Cornwell scored at 89:59 of the contest to secure the victory.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State dropped a hard fought 2-0 contest to Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan last Sunday afternoon as the BSU Soccer Field ... The Cardinals played the last 30 minutes of the contest down a player due to a red card in the 61st minute of play ... 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 ... The Chippewas scored a goal in the 12th minute and converted a penalty kick in the 63rd minute of play to cap the scoring.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Thursday's game with a 6-10-2 overall record and an 0-8-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have been eliminated from contention for the 2010 MAC Tournament ... BSU has scored 21 goals in 18 games this season while allowing 33 goals against.
Redshirt sophomore Sarah Orisich leads the team in scoring with 10 points as she has tallied four goals and handed out two assists ... Sophomore Paige Stroinski is second on the team with seven points (2g, 3a) ... Sophomore defender Brigit Reder and senior midfielder Missy Gordon are tied for second on the team in goals with three apiece.
In goal, the Cardinals have split time between two goalkeepers ... Sophomore Aubrey Buehler has played 918:33 in goal and has a 1.47 goals against average this season ... Freshman Layne Schramm has played 769:53 in goal and owns a 2.10 goals against average.
Scouting The Rockets . . .
Toledo enters Thursday's game with a 14-2-2 overall record and a 10-0-0 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Rockets have already clinched at least a share of the MAC title and have clinched the number one seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament ... Toledo is trying to become the first team in MAC history to finish the year with an 11-0-0 record ... The Rockets have scored 34 goals in 18 games while allowing 15 goals against.
Kristen Lynn leads Toledo in scoring with 18 points (7g, 4) while Brittany Hensler is second on the team with 15 points (7g, 1a) ... Rachel MacLeod adds 12 points (5g, 2a) and Erin Flynn chips in 10 points (3g, 4a) ... In goal, Vicki Traven owns a 0.80 goals against average on the year and has tallied nine shutouts.
Coming Through In The Clutch . . .
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Sarah Orisich entered the 2010 season without a goal on her resume and she went the first five games of the year without finding the back of the net ... Orisich quickly remedied the problem as she scored goals in three straight games and all three of her goals have been game-winning varieties ... She leads the team and the Mid-American Conference with three game-winning goals ... She scored the game-clinching tallies in the 103rd minute of action at Southeast Missouri, the 34th minute at Western Kentucky and most recently the 72nd minute at Duquesne.
Quick Start . . .
Ball State has posted a 6-2-0 start under first-year head coach Craig Roberts ... The three straight season-opening victories marks the fourth time Ball State has accomplished the feat and the first time since 2004 ... BSU also opened the year with three straight wins in 2000 and 2001 ... The Cardinals' 6-2-0 record through eight games is their best mark to this point since 2005 when BSU opened the year 8-1-0 on its way to a 15-3-2 overall record.
MAC Weekly Honors . . .
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Abby Milillo was named the Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Week Monday (Sept. 20) ... Milillo, who entered the game with four career points, scored a career-high five points as she was involved in all three Ball State goals as she scored two goals and handed out an assist on the game-winning tally ... She scored unassisted in the 24th and 71st minutes of action for her first multiple goal game of her career and the Cardinals' second multiple-goal contest of the year.
Sophomore defender Brigit Reder was named the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 6) ... Reder becomes the first Cardinal to garner weekly honors since Rachael Murphy earned the accolades October 15, 2007 ... She anchored for the Ball State defense this season and has helped the Cardinals open the year with a 4-2-0 record ... She also helped BSU post two shutouts this season through six games.
On The Air With The Cardinals . . .
Head coach Craig Roberts will hold his weekly radio show Monday evenings from 6-7 p.m. on 91.3 WCRD FM and online at www.ballstatesports.com ... Roberts and selected players will talk about the program with hosts Luke Baran and Kevin Thurman ... Also, all home games will be broadcast on WCRD and online.
Quick Attack . . .
Earlier this season, the Cardinals picked up a 3-0 victory at IUPUI (Aug. 27) ... Senior midfielder Missy Gordon gave Ball State the early lead as she scored an unassisted goal just 30 seconds into the contest ... The goal is the fastest goal ever scored by Ball State to open a game surpassing the previous mark by 21 seconds ... Former Cardinal Emily Rein scored just 51 seconds into the game September 24, 2006 against Buffalo ... Gordon's goal is also the fastest goal scored so far this season in the Mid-American Conference.
Fresh Faces . . .
Ball State has 15 newcomers on the 2010 season with 11 freshmen and four transfers ... Joining the Cardinals as freshmen are Maggie Hamilton, Kelsey Shapiro, Kaisa Bjorn, Robyn Miley, Sarah Pawelko, Alyssa Peterson, Brittney Graham, Maimee Morris, Michelle Blok, Layne Schramm and Sammy Scaringelli ... Senior Danielle Rogers and sophomore Aubrey Buehler transferred into BSU from Tennessee-Martin after playing for head coach Craig Roberts last year ... Also, junior Amanda Willke (East Stroudsburg) and sophomore Shaniece Thorpe (West Va. Institute of Technology) have joined the program after transferring.
New Face At The Helm . . .
Head coach Craig Roberts became the fourth head coach in Ball State history last spring after serving the past four seasons as head coach at Tennessee-Martin ... Roberts opened his Ball State career with three straight wins, becoming the first coach in BSU history to accomplish the feat ... He joined former coaches Ron Rainey and Michelle Salmon with a win in their first career game as BSU head coach.
Roberts has a 40-34-13 overall record, including 29 wins over the past three years ... He led UTM to an Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship last fall ... Joining Roberts on the sideline this fall is assistant coach Rachel Napoli who was on his staff at UTM ... Also, Chris Westrop and Stephen Woodward have joined the staff as volunteer assistant coaches.
