Ball State University
Butler
Cards Score Early, Can't Hold Off Butler in Soccer
September 16, 2012 | Soccer
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State soccer team suffered its first loss in its past four outings Sunday afternoon, dropping a 2-1 decision to Butler at the Briner Sports Complex in its final non-conference game.
The Cardinals (3-3-2) managed an early goal from sophomore forward Jasmine Moses but could not hold the lead. A Butler goal late in the first half and another early in the second lifted the Bulldogs (5-3-1) to a win in the first meeting between the teams since 2007.
Ball State will now enter the Mid-American Conference portion of its schedule as the Cardinals host Buffalo on Friday and Akron next Sunday.
"We have to be better in some areas than we were today," Ball State coach Craig Roberts said. "We are a quality team, and we believe in what we can do. We just need to raise our game. We needed to be better organized in some portions of our game today, and we have to get that squared away now as we begin MAC play."
The Ball State goal -- Moses' second in the past two games -- was well orchestrated. Senior defender Amanda Dreyfus passed the ball from the circle to senior midfielder Alyssa Ables, who sent the ball ahead to Moses in the right side of the box. Moses was one-on-one with the Butler goalkeeper and beat her to the far side of the net.
Despite holding that early lead, Ball State faced pressure for much of the first half from the Butler attack, which forced Cardinals goalkeeper Aubrey Buehler to make five saves in the opening 45 minutes.
Buehler stopped every shot she faced until the final minute of the first half when Butler's Sophia Maccagnone fired a left-footed shot from the top of the box into the right side of the net to even the score heading into halftime.
The Bulldogs then found another goal quickly when Claire Milam scored in the 50th minute to give Butler the lead. Katie Reed and Elise Kotsakis assisted on the play, and Milam's shot traveled from the left side of the box into the right corner of the net.
"I didn't feel that we did well defensively, and that's unusual for us," Roberts said. "Usually we are very strong back there and positioned really well, so that was something that we have already talked about getting corrected."
Down a goal, Ball State picked up its attack. The Cardinals out-shot Butler by an 8-3 margin in the second half but only managed a few really good looks. Butler keeper Julie Burton saved each of the five shots on goal she faced.
For the game, Ball State registered 15 shots to 12 for Butler, marking the seventh straight game the Cardinals have out-shot their opponent. Ball State senior midfielder Sarah Orisich led all players with four shots.
Sunday's game was the first time since the season opener at Marshall that Ball State surrendered more than one goal. The Cardinals have still allowed just seven goals over their past seven outings.
