Ball State University Athletics
Sixth-Seeded Soccer Opens MAC Tournament Play Sunday
October 28, 2011 | Soccer
What's On Tap . . .
Sixth-seeded Ball State opens play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament this weekend as it travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face third-seeded Western Michigan Sunday afternoon.
MAC Tournament History . . .
Ball State has qualified for the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the ninth time in program history and the first time since the 2008 season ... The Cardinals are 2-5-3 all-time in the MAC Tournament, having notched wins in the quarterfinals twice (2007 & 2002) ... The Cardinals have been eliminated from the MAC Tournament three times on penalty kicks in program history.
Sunday's game marks the third time Ball State has met Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament ... The Cardinals defeated WMU 3-1 in 2002 before being eliminated by the Broncos in 2004 on penalty kicks, 4-3.
2008
Central Michigan 1 (H), Ball State 0
2007
Ball State 1 (H), Miami 0
Bowling Green 2, Ball State 2 (H)
(BGSU advances on PK's, 3-0)
2006
Miami 2, Ball State 1 (H)
2005
Kent State 0, Ball State 0 (H)
(Kent State advances on PK's, 3-1)
2004
Western Michigan 2 (H), Ball State 2
(Western Michigan advances on PK's, 4-3)
2003
Central Michigan 2, Ball State 0 (H)
2002
Ball State 3 (H), Western Michigan 1
Ohio 1, Ball State 0 (N)
2001
Ohio 2 (H), Ball State 1
Series History . . .
Sunday's game marks the 16th meeting all-time between Ball State and Western Michigan ... The Broncos hold a slight edge with a 7-6-2 advantage in the all-time series after posting a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals in the Mid-American Conference opener this season ... Ball State is 2-4-1 all-time in Kalamazoo and last posted a victory on the road in 2006 with a 3-0 win.
Earlier this year, Western Michigan jumped out to an early lead as it scored two goals in less than two minutes to take a 2-0 lead just 18 minutes into the game ... Freshman Pavla Benyrova pulled the Cardinals within one as she converted a penalty kick in the 41st minute, the first successful penalty kick for Ball State since 2009.
Freshman Goal Scorers . . .
Freshman forward Jasmine Moses leads the Cardinals and is tied for sixth in the Mid-American Conference with seven goals scored ... Moses leads all MAC freshmen in goals (seven) and is second in points (14) ... Buffalo's Katie Roberts is second among rookies with six goals, while leading the freshmen with 16 points ... Kent State's Stephanie Haugh and Eastern Michigan's Angela Vultaggio have also scored six goals.
Upping The Win Total . . .
Ball State enters the Mid-American Conference Tournament with an 9-8-3 overall record ... The Cardinals' nine wins have surpassed last season's win total (seven), while their four MAC wins has eclipsed last year's mark (one) as well ... Ball State has recorded its most wins in a season since tallying 13 wins in 2007.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the sixth seed after posting a 9-8-3 overall record and a 4-5-2 mark in league play ... The Cardinals have scored 28 goals this season while allowing 29 goals against ... Ball State leads the MAC with 341 shots, which is a single-season program record ... The Cardinals have dropped four straight games heading into the tournament.
Junior defender Brigit Reder leads the team with 16 points on the strength of seven goals and two assists ... Reder's 16 points rank ninth-most in a single season in Ball State history ... Freshman Jasmine Moses is second on the team with 14 points as she has scored seven goals.
Freshman Becca Sutton has added eight points, primarily off the bench, as she has a team-high four assists and two goals ... Freshman Pavla Benyrova and junior Maggie Brown are tied for third on the team with three goals apiece.
Junior goalkeeper Aubrey Buehler has a 1.31 goals against average ... Buehler has posted five shutouts and has an 8-7-3 record on the year.
Scouting The Broncos . . .
Western Michigan enters the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the third seed after posting a 12-7-0 record on the year and an 8-3-0 mark in league play ... The Broncos have won five straight games heading into the tournament ... Western Michigan has scored 30 goals this season while allowing 19 goals against.
Forward Stephanie Skowneski leas the Broncos and the MAC in scoring with 24 points ... Skowneski, the all-time leading scorer at WMU, has scored eight goals and has handed out eight assists ... Anina Cicerone is second on the team with 19 points as she has scored eight goals and added three assists ... Caitlin Henderson is second on the team with six assists.
In goal, Michelle Watson has played all but 135 minutes and owns a 0.95 goals against average ... Watson has posted 10 shutouts on the year and 80 saves.
Scoring Defenders . . .
Ball State has scored 28 goals this season with 12 of its goals coming from its defensive back line ... Junior defender Brigit Reder is tied for the team lead in scoring with seven goals on the year ... Reder is the highest scoring defender in the Mid-American Conference this year and ranks sixth in the league overall in goals scored ... Her seven goals are the most in a single season by a Cardinals' defender in Ball State history and ranks seventh all-time overall on the single-season goals scored list.
Freshman Pavla Benyrova is third on the team with three goals while junior Skylar Chew and freshman Victoria Jacobs have also recorded a goal this year.
Freshmen Stepping Up . . .
Ball State has an 11-member freshman class this season and they have made an impact on the team during the year ... Six different freshmen have scored goals this season, while four freshmen have handed out assists ... Additionally, five different freshmen have started at least 14 games this year.
Forward Jasmine Moses leads the team and is tied for sixth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring with seven goals this season ... Defender Pavla Benyrova has scored three goals and midfielder Becca Sutton has posted two goals ... Also, forward Hannah Chadick, midfielder Ellie Chadick and defender Victoria Jacobs have each found the back of the net this season.
Sutton leads the team and the freshman class with four assists while Ellie Chadick has handed out three helpers ... Additionally, Cailey Starck and Benyrova each have an assist this year.
MAC Weekly Honors . . .
Ball State has claimed three Mid-American Conference weekly honors this season as freshman Pavla Benyrova and junior Brigit Reder have earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season while freshman Jasmine Moses earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors ... Benyrova picked up the honors for the week of Aug. 29-Sept 4 ... She scored her first career collegiate goal in dramatic fashion against Indiana State, posting the game-winning double-overtime goal to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory.
Reder, the team's captain and defensive leader, took home the honor for the week of Sept 5-11 as she scored nine points in two games and helped the Cardinals' defense hold opponents to just three goals in the tournament ... Reder became just the fourth Cardinal all-time to post a hat trick and the first Ball State defender to accomplish the feat against Lamar as all three of her goals came in the second half ... Her seven points against Lamar are a Ball State single-game record ... She opened the tournament with a goal against host Northern Arizona.
Moses earned the honors last week (Oct. 10) as she scored two goals to help the Cardinals extend their unbeaten streak to five straight games ... She scored her team-leading and league-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season in the Cardinals' 2-1 victory over Akron in the 86th minute of play ... She followed that up with her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the Cardinals' 1-1 tie against Ohio.
Scholar Athletes . . .
Ball State has picked up three Mid-American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week honors this season ... Junior defender Brigit Reder won the award twice while classmate Skylar Chew picked up the accolade last week ... The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during the week's competition.
