Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Travels To Cincinnati Saturday Evening For Exhibition Game
August 13, 2010 | Soccer
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State soccer team will play its lone exhibition game in preparation for the 2010 season Saturday evening as the Cardinals travel to Big East foe Cincinnati for a 7 p.m. start at Gettler Stadium. The Cardinals open the regular season Friday, August 20 as they host Xavier at the BSU Soccer Field.
"Saturday's game will be a realistic measure of where we are at after a week and a half of preseason practices," first-year head coach Craig Roberts said. "The focus will be to enhance what we have done in preseason and see exactly where we are at as a team. It will give us a good opportunity to see our team in a game situation."
Ball State opens its 12th season in program history under the watchful eye of Roberts, who spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Tennessee-Martin. He brings a four-year head coaching record of 34-27-2 to the program, including three straight winnings seasons with the Skyhawks.
The Cardinals return 14 letterwinners from last season's team and have brought in 15 newcomers to the squad. Leading the charge for Ball State is a six-member senior class in Cortney Coombs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain), Tina Vannatta (Powhatan, Va./Springboro), Kristina Anderson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin), Missy Gordon (Carmel, Ind./Marshall), Jacki Eft (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and Danielle Rogers (Orland Park, Ill./Tennessee-Martin).
The five returning seniors have combined to play in 203 career games for Ball State, while Rogers joins the Cardinals after transferring in from Tennessee-Martin. Gordon and Eft paced the offensive attack last fall as they finished tied for third on the team in scoring with seven points. Eft led the Cardinals in assists with five helpers while Gordon led the team with 60 shots. Rogers was named the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the year last season under Roberts' tutelage.
Sophomore Paige Stroinski (Granger, Ind./Penn) is Ball State's leading returning scorer from last season as she tallied eight points in her rookie campaign. Stroinski scored three goals and handed out two assists while starting 17 games at the forward position.
Cincinnati is under the direction of third-year head coach and former Ball State head coach Michelle Salmon. The Bearcats are coming off of an 8-10-1 record last fall, including a 3-7-1 mark in Big East play.
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