Ball State University Athletics
Field Hockey Enters League Play at Kent State, Ohio
September 24, 2010 | Field Hockey
KENT STATE LIVE STATS / OHIO LIVE STATS
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Ball State field hockey team completes a four-game road swing this weekend and enters Mid-American Conference competition with contests against MAC foes Kent State and Ohio. Saturday, the Cardinals travel to Kent, Ohio to play the Golden Flashes in a game at 1 p.m. at Murphy-Mellis Field. Sunday, Ball State will play the Ohio Bobcats at 1 p.m. in Athens, Ohio at Pruitt Field.
LAST TIME OUT: Ball State traveled to Evanston, Ill. and Iowa City, Iowa to play Northwestern and Iowa. Against the Wildcats, juniors Caitlin Maguire (Louisville, Ky./Presentation Academy) and Devanny Kuhn (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart) scored one goal apiece, however Northwestern defeated Ball State, 6-2, Sept. 17 at Lakeside Field. The Wildcats outshot the Cardinals, 24-5, and connected on 6-of-18 shots on goal. At Iowa, Ball State fell, 2-0, Sept. 18 at Grant Field. The Hawkeyes outshot the Cardinals, 26-3, and connected on 2-of-11 shots on goal. Iowa paced the contest with strong offensive pressure, tallying nine shots and four penalty corners before halftime. Kuhn finished with three shots, while sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Hammer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel Area) recorded nine saves during 70 minutes of action.
SCOUTING KENT STATE: Saturday's game marks the 59th time Ball State and Kent State have met. The Cardinals own a 32-26-1 all-time record against the Golden Flashes. The teams last met last season as Kent State defeated Ball State twice, 3-2, and 8-0. The Golden Flashes finished the 2009 season with a 12-8 record (8-2 MAC). Top scorer Debbie Bell paces the squad with 13 points on the young season. Bell, a junior forward from Hamilton, New Zealand, has accounted for nearly half of the Golden Flashes' goals since the beginning of the year (6-of-13). Kent State enters weekend play after defeating No. 5 Michigan State, 2-0, on Friday, however, the team fell to No. 13 Boston, 2-1, on Sunday. On Saturday, Sept. 4, Kent State defeated No. 8 Syracuse, 2-1, in overtime. The Golden Flashes rank 17th in the latest Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll with a 4-4 record on the season.
SCOUTING OHIO: The contest versus Ohio Sunday marks the 66th meeting between the two teams, as the Cardinals own a 34-31 series advantage against the Bobcats. Ohio finished the 2009 season with a 12-9 record (8-2 MAC), and defeated Miami, 2-1, at the 2009 MAC Field Hockey Championship for its third league title in four years. Sophomore Taylor Brown leads the Bobcats with 39 shots, 14 points and seven goals. This past weekend, Ohio shutout Robert Morris, 4-0, Friday afternoon and defeated Richmond, 3-1, on Sunday. The Bobcats received 21 votes in the latest Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.
KUHN'S CAREER MARKS: With her team-leading seven goals so far this season, the communication studies major leads all active BSU scorers with 14 career goals. Kuhn's 35 career points stands as the most among active BSU players.
OFFENSE ON THE RISE: Through the first six games this season, Ball State has tallied 17 goals to lead the Cardinals to a 3-3 record. Last season, the squad scored just 12 goals in its first six contests.
