Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Miami
Soccer Falls To Miami, 3-1
October 08, 2010 | Soccer
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State soccer team returned to the BSU Soccer Field for just the fourth time this season Friday afternoon and the Cardinals dropped a 3-1 decision to Mid-American Conference rival Miami. The loss drops the Cardinals to 6-7-0 overall and 0-5-0 in MAC play, while Miami improves to 10-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in league action.
"We have been hit very hard with injuries here lately but have kept battling," first-year head coach Craig Roberts said. "We are very pleased with some of the performances of our younger players who have stepped up here lately, especially the play of Kelsey Shapiro and Robyn Miley this afternoon. They have been given a chance to show what they can do and played very well."
The Cardinals fell behind in the first half as Miami opened the scoring in the 35th minute of play off a corner kick. Sam Whitemore sent the corner kick into the box where defender Brooke Livingston was able to get a head on the cross and drill it into the top corner for the early 1-0 lead. The RedHawks held a slim 6-4 advantage in shots in the first half.
Ball State came out in the second half and was the aggressor as the Cardinals held a 12-5 advantage in shots in the second frame. The RedHawks extended their lead to 2-0 though in the 67th minute as Giselle Mangal got behind the Cardinals' defense and beat sophomore goalkeeper Aubrey Buehler (Waukesha, Wis./UT-Martin) one-on-one.
The Cardinals quickly answered just 1:18 later as senior Tina Vannatta (Powhatan, Va./Springboro) scored her first goal of the year. Freshman midfielder Kelsey Shapiro (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) dribbled into the Miami defense before dropping the ball off to Vannatta who struck a shot from 35 yards out over the head of Miami goalkeeper Kris Gasparovic to make it a 2-1 deficit. The assist was the first point of Shapiro's career.
The RedHawks came right back and extended the lead back to two only 26 second later as Kayla Kakrzewski found Dani Fraelick in the box with a cross. Fraelick was able to poke the ball past freshman goalkeeper Layne Schramm (The Colony, Texas/The Colony) for a 3-1 lead.
Ball State kept battling as it pushed to cut into the deficit. Freshman forward Paige Stroinski (Granger, Ind./Penn) had a strong chance off a free kick from 30 yards out that sailed just wide and Vannatta had her shot at a second goal thwarted by Gasparovic who made a diving save off a free kick n the in the 71st minute.
Gasparovic finished the night with nine saves in the victory for the RedHawks. Buehler posted one save in 66:32 minutes of play wile Schramm tallied two saves in the final 23:28 of the contest.
The Cardinals return to action Sunday afternoon as they host MAC foe Bowling Green at 1 p.m. Ball State will honor seniors Kristina Anderson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) Cortney Coombs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain), Jacki Eft (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), Missy Gordon (Carmel, Ind./Marshall), Danielle Rogers (Orland Park, Ill./UT-Martin) and Tina Vannatta (Powhatan, Va./Springboro) on senior day.
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