Ball State University Athletics
Soccer Ready For Back-To-Back Matches In Hawai'i
September 05, 2012 | Soccer
Senior midefielder Alyssa Ables will be blogging about the Cardinals' experiences in Hawai'i. Follow her blog all weekend for an inside look at the trip.
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State soccer team will make the longest trip in the 14-year history of the program this week, crossing six times zones to play at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Soccer Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
The Cardinals will face host Hawai'i on Friday and then square off with Detroit on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. local time in Honolulu, which is 1 a.m. Saturday in the Eastern time zone.
All games at the round-robin event will be played just off the Hawaii campus at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium, and live stats for each contest will be available at hawaiiathletics.com.
"This trip is a great way to reward our players, and especially our seniors, for what they have done for our program," Ball State coach Craig Roberts said. "Our focus will be on winning games this weekend, and we will certainly be facing some high quality teams. But at the same time, we want our players to enjoy what could perhaps be a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of them."
ABOUT BALL STATE
Ball State (3-2-0) is coming off a 1-0 shutout victory over IPFW on Sunday to wrap up a four-game home stand. Paige Stroinski's first-half goal on an assist from Nicole Pembleton was the only scoring in the game. The Cardinals limited IPFW to just five shots, and Aubrey Buehler earned the shutout in goal. The Cardinals have won three of their past four games and have surrendered a total of just three goals during that stretch.
Pembleton, Skylar Chew and Aubrey Hauenstein have each scored one goal and assisted on another this season to lead Ball State with three points. Stroinski and Shaniece Thorpe have also scored one goal each, while Pavla Benyrova has assisted on two scores. Buehler owns a 1.16 goals against average, having played every minute between the posts.
SCOUTING HAWAI'I
Hawai'i (4-1-1) is unbeaten since a season-opening loss at Nevada and enters this week's tournament without a loss in its past nine home games. Last week in Honolulu, the Rainbow Wahine tied Drexel, 3-3, and shut out BYU-Hawai'i, 3-0. Hawai'i is averaging three goals per game since being shut out in the season opener.
Tiana Fujimoto is the team's top scorer with five goals already through six games, including a two-goal performance against Sacred Heart. Chelsea Miyake has scored twice and assisted on three goals, while McKenzie McGoldrick has also found the back of the net three times. Kanani Taaca has played every minute between the posts and owns a 1.73 goals against average, having faced only 19 shots on the year.
SCOUTING DETROIT
Detroit (2-3-0) dropped a 3-2 decision to Oakland last Friday in its most recent action. The Titans won two of their first three contests but have since lost two straight. One of their losses came against Mid-American Conference member Central Michigan in the season opener.
Kaitlyn Quarrell paces the Detroit attack with three goals and two assists, while Abby McCollum and Nina Carter have scored two goals each. Nora Abolins has seen the majority of time in goal for the Titans and owns a goals against average of 0.50 and a save percentage of .895.
ALL-TIME VERSUS HAWAI'I AND DETROIT
Ball State and Hawai'i will be meeting for the first time ever. The Cardinals have played Detroit just once, winning 1-0 in the 2004 season opener at Central Michigan's tournament.
TOP-NOTCH DEFENSE
After surrendering three goals in its season opener at Marshall, Ball State has allowed just three goals over its past four games. The Cardinals held three straight opponents to one goal and then shut out IPFW, 1-0, Sunday in their most recent action.
OUT-SHOOTING THE OPPOSITION
Ball State has given itself more scoring opportunities than its opponents this season, out-shooting them by a combined total of 83-47. The Cardinals have logged more shots than their opponent in four of their five games and have limited their past three opponents to fewer than 10 shots.
BUEHLER'S CAREER NUMBERS
Senior goalkeeper Aubrey Buehler's shutout against IPFW was the 13th of her career. It was her eighth since transferring to Ball State after playing her freshman year at UT Martin. Buehler ranks fourth in school history in wins (16) and goals against average (1.33).
REDER ON THE ALL-TIME LISTS
Senior defender Brigit Reder is tied for seventh on Ball State's all-time goals scored list with 11 in her career. She also ranks 14th on the Cardinals' list for career points with 25 (11 goals, three assists).
CHEW PICKS UP PAIR OF HONORS
Senior defender Skylar Chew was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week by the league office and the MAC Player of the Week by College Sports Madness two weeks ago. She scored one goal and assisted on another in the Ball State Tournament (Aug. 24-26) while helping the Cardinals limit their opponents to just 10 shots on goal over two games.
MORE ON THE CARDINALS
BSU is coming off a 9-9-3 campaign last year as the Cardinals improved for the second consecutive season under head coach Craig Roberts. This year's team is much more experienced with the return of 21 letterwinners and eight starters from a year ago.
Leading scorer Brigit Reder returns for her senior year following an all-conference junior season in which she totaled 16 points and led all Mid-American Conference defenders with seven goals. Sophomore forward Jasmine Moses also scored seven goals for the Cardinals last season in her rookie campaign, but Reder and Moses are just two of a total of 14 returning BSU players who tallied points last year. Ball State also features a pair of experienced goalkeepers in senior Aubrey Buehler and junior Layne Schramm. Buehler started 19 games in 2011 and posted a 1.30 goals against average.
BSU PRESEASON HONORS
College Sports Madness named its Preseason All-Mid-American Conference teams recently, and Ball State was well-represented with three selections. Senior defender Brigit Reder was selected to the 13-member first team, while sophomore forward Jasmine Moses was recognized on the 13-member second team. Additionally, freshman midfielder/defender Kaila Mack was picked as the league's preseason Freshman of the Year.
THIRD SEASON FOR ROBERTS
The Cardinals are in their third season under the direction of head coach Craig Roberts. The program won just four games a year prior to Roberts' arrival but managed seven wins in his first season in 2010 and then improved to 9-9-3 in 2011.
Last year's team won seven games in an eight-game stretch in the middle of the season despite fielding a roster with a combined 18 freshmen and sophomores.
BSU PICKED FOURTH IN MAC WEST
Ball State was chosen fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the annual preseason poll of the league's head coaches. The Cardinals will look to improve on that prediction like they did a year ago when they were picked sixth in the preseason poll but finished fourth with a league record of 4-5-2.
