Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Opens Season Hosting Xavier And Indiana State This Weekend
August 18, 2010 | Soccer
Soccer vs. Xavier - Friday @ 4 p.m. at BSU Soccer Field
Soccer vs. Indiana State - Sunday @ 1 p.m. at BSU Soccer Field
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State opens the 2010 season this weekend as it hosts Xavier Friday afternoon and Indiana State Sunday afternoon at the BSU Soccer Field ... This season marks the first time BSU has opened the year at home since 2007 and just the fourth time in the 12-year history of the program.
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 brings a 34-27-12 overall record to Muncie, 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.
Exhibition Season . . .
Ball State battled to a 2-2 tie against Big East foe Cincinnati in its lone exhibition game of the year last Saturday ... The Cardinals out-shot the Bearcats by a 15-13 margin and held two separate leads in the tie ... Sophomore Brigit Reder scored the game's first goal in the third minute of action while classmate Paige Stroinski added a goal in the 24th minute of play off a free kick ... Sophomore Aubrey Buehler posted five saves in the tie in her first action as a Cardinal after transferring in from UT-Martin.
Season Openers . . .
The 2010 season marks the 12th season of Ball State soccer in program history ... The Cardinals are 7-4 all-time in season openers but have dropped the past two season openers (Valparaiso and Miami) ... Ball State is 2-1 all-time when opening the season at home at the BSU Soccer Field, including a 5-1 victory in 2007 against IPFW.
Series History . . .
Friday's game marks the second meeting all-time between Ball State and Xavier ... The Cardinals downed the Musketeers 3-2 in overtime at the BSU Soccer Field (Sept. 17, 2006) in the teams previous meeting ... In that game, Xavier took a 2-0 lead in the 82nd minute of the contest before Ball State scored two goals in the next 5:40 to tie the game before the end of regulation ... The Cardinals claimed the victory as Sarah Leibel scored off a free kick in the 97th minute to cap the come from behind win.
Sunday's game marks the seventh meeting all-time between Ball State and Indiana State ... The Cardinals hold a 6-0-0 record all-time against the Sycamores, including a 3-0-0 record at home ... The two teams have not met since the 2006 season when Ball State notched a 3-2 victory ... After a scoreless first half, ISU struck in the 47th minute only to see the Cardinals answer back with two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead ... The Sycamores tied the game late in the second half with a goal in the 84th minute ... Ball State stunned Indiana State as Emily Rein scored in the 89th minute off a turnover by the ISU goalkeeper to seal the victory.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State returns 14 letterwinners from last season's 4-13-1 record and has welcomed in 15 newcomers to the squad ... First-year head coach Craig Roberts takes over at the helm of the Cardinals after serving four seasons as head coach at Tennessee-Martin.
Leading the way for the Cardinals is the return of senior captains Cortney Coombs and Tina Vannatta ... They played in 33 games last season anchoring the midfield and defensive positions, respectively ... Sophomore forward Paige Stroinski is the Cardinals' leading returning scorer as she tallied eight points (3g, 2a) ... Seniors Missy Gordon (2g, 3 a) and Jacki Eft (1g, 5a) each notched seven points last fall with Eft leading the team with five assists.
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.
Scouting The Musketeers . . .
Xavier enters the 2010 season under the direction of first-year head coach Woody Sherwood ... The Musketeers are coming off of a 3-15-1 overall record last season and have brought in 10 newcomers to the squad, including nine freshman.
Leslie Boersma is the Musketeers' lone returning multiple-goal scorer from last year as she was second on the team with two goals ... Xavier played one exhibition game this season and suffered a 2-1 loss to Mid-American Conference foe Ohio ... Jessica Brooks scored the lone goal for Xavier.
Scouting The Sycamores . . .
Indiana State is coming off of a 5-10-3 overall record last season ... The Sycamores have played two exhibition games this season with a 4-1 loss at Illinois and a 2-1 loss at Morehead State ... Forward Ashley Collins scored both of the Sycamores' goals in the losses ... ISU opened the 2010 regular season Friday as it hosted Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan.
The Sycamores were tabbed to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference this season ... Leading the way for ISU is Casey Albright who scored 10 points last season (3g, 2a) ... Syma Erenli and Alison Gasparovich each added to goals last season for the Sycamores.
