Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Opens MAC Play This Weekend
September 24, 2010 | Soccer
FRIDAY PROMOTION: Youth Day - kids in attendance will get a free t-shirt* courtesy of US Soccer and fans will get their own soccer stadium cup (while supplies last)
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State opens the Mid-American Conference season this weekend as it returns home for the first time since August 22 when the Cardinals host Western Michigan Friday ... BSU will also hit the road Sunday to face the Northern Illinois Huskies.
Milillo Honored By MAC . . .
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Abby Milillo was named the Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Week Monday (Sept. 20) ... Milillo, who came into 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.
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 enters Friday's game riding a three-game goal scoring streak 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.
MAC Openers . . .
Friday marks the 12th Mid-American Conference opener in Ball State history ... The Cardinals are 6-4-1 all-time in league openers, including a 4-1-1 mark at home ... Ball State has never met Western Michigan in a MAC opener ... The Cardinals have dropped their past two MAC openers with a 4-0 loss at Kent State last year and a 3-0 loss two seasons ago at Central Michigan ... Ball State last opened conference play at home during the 2007 season when it posted a 1-0 victory over CMU.
Quick Start . . .
Ball State has posted two different three-game winning streaks this season and is off to 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.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State closed out its six-game road swing with a 3-2 victory at Atlantic 10 foe Duquesne ... The victory was the Cardinals' third straight on the road and improved them to 4-2-0 on the road stand ... Redshirt sophomore Abby Milillo was the offensive catalyst as she scored a career-high five points ... Milillo scored the first two goals and handed out two assists ... Classmate Sarah Orisich scored the eventual game-winning goal for the third straight game while senior Jacki Eft posted two assists in the victory ... Freshman goalkeeper Layne Schramm tallied her first career victory as she played all 90 minutes.
Series History . . .
Friday's game marks the 14th meeting all-time between Ball State and Western Michigan ... The Cardinals hold a 6-5-2 record all-time against the Broncos, including a 4-2-1 record all-time in Muncie ... Last season, the teams also met at the BSU Soccer Field and battled to a 1-1 tie ... Caitlin Henderson scored the game's first goal in the 38th minute to put WMU in front but former Cardinal Megan Ridley scored the game-tying goal in the 89th minute of action.
Sunday's game marks the 12th meeting all-time between Ball State and Northern Illinois ... The two teams have split the all-time series 4-4-3 with the Cardinals owning a 3-1-2 record all-time in DeKalb ... Last season, Northern Illinois came to Muncie and claimed a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals ... The Huskies ran out to an early 2-0 lead just 21 minutes into the game ... BSU rallied in the second half and pulled within one as Paige Stroinski scored in the 67th minute to narrow the gap but the Cardinals' rally fell short in the loss.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 6-2-0 record on the year and sit alone atop the Mid-American Conference West Division ... The Cardinals have scored 13 goals through eight games while allowing 10 goals against ... BSU has won three straight games heading into the weekend.
Redshirt sophomore Sarah Orisich leads the team with seven points (3g, 1a) while classmate Abby Milillo is second on the team with five points (2g, 1a) ... Senior Missy Gordon leads the team and the MAC with 26 shots on the year and she has scored two goals ... Classmate Jacki Eft has tallied four points (1g, 2a).
In goal, the Cardinals have used two goalkeepers this season ... Sophomore Aubrey Buehler has played 444:58 in goal and owns a 0.81 goals against average ... Buehler also boasts a 5-1-0 record ... Freshman Layne Schramm has played 287:23 in goal and has a 1.88 goals against average with a 1-1-0 record.
Scouting the Broncos . . .
Western Michigan enters the weekend with a 4-4-0 record and a 2-4-0 mark on the road ... The Broncos have won two straight games with wins over Northern Iowa (5-0) and Murray State (6-1) ... WMU has scored 17 goals through eight games with 11 goals coming in the past two games ... The Broncos have allowed eight goals against.
Stephanie Skowneski leads the team with seven points (3g, 1a) while Brittney Pavlica is second on the team with six points (3g) ... Nicole Dulyea, Alison Szczypka and Anina Cicerone have each scored two goals ... In goal, Julie Francy has played a majority of time and owns a 0.85 goals against average in 632:25 ... Michelle Watson has played 127:00 and has a 1.42 goals against average.
Scouting the Huskies . . .
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a 4-3-0 record on the year including a 3-1-0 mark at home ... The Huskies have won back-to-back games at home entering the weekend with wins over SIU-Edwardsville (1-0) and Wisconsin-Green Bay (1-0) ... NIU will open Mid-American Conference play Friday at Toledo ... The Huskies have scored six goals in seven games while allowing six goals against.
Kelsey Passaglia is the lone Husky to score multiple goals this season as she has two goals and an assist ... Four different Huskies have also found the back of the net ... Amy Carr has played every minute in goal for NIU and has a 0.86 goals against average ... Carr is the reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Week after posting back-to-back shutouts.
Reder Earns MAC Honor . . .
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 has been the anchor for the Ball State defense this season and has helped the Cardinals open the year with a 4-2-0 record ... Ball State has already matched last season's win total (4-13-1) and has recorded its best start through six games since the 2005 season (5-1-0) ... She has 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 38-29-12 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.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State continues Mid-American Conference play next weekend with two road games ... The Cardinals travel to Akron and Ohio next weekend.
