Ball State University
Akron
Soccer Gets Offense Going in 4-2 Win at Akron
October 26, 2014 | Soccer
AKRON, Ohio -- After several weeks of grinding out low-scoring games, the Ball State soccer team unleashed some offense Sunday in an important 4-2 Mid-American Conference victory at Akron.
Leah Mattingly scored the game's opening goal and assisted on two others as the Cardinals (10-5-2, 6-4 MAC) locked up a spot in the MAC Tournament. They will play for seeding Thursday against Miami with the opportunity to be as high as the No. 3 seed. The top four seeds host first-round games.
Cailey Starck, Victoria Jacobs and Gabby Veldman also scored as Ball State produced its highest goal output since a 5-0 win over Bowling Green in the conference opener. The six combined goals were the most of any Ball State game this season.
"We had a lot more intensity up top and created more opportunities to score today," Ball State head coach Craig Roberts said. "We had very good possession, we finished when we needed to, and the defensive back line did a very good job for the most part."
Akron (6-11-1, 2-8 MAC), playing to keep its MAC Tournament hopes alive, fought to level Sunday's game at 2-2 early in the second half. But Ball State responded with two more scores to put it away.
Jacobs scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 68th minute with a header off a corner kick from Mattingly. It was her third goal of the season with all of them coming in the past five games. Veldman then added her goal on a deep strike from 30 yards out in the 80th minute to provide some insurance.
The Cardinals have now reached the 10-win mark in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2006-07 and posted six league victories for the first time since 2007.
"We put together more of a complete performance today," Roberts said. "We knew what was at stake in terms of making sure we were in the tournament, and we met the challenge."
Mattingly started the scoring by converting a penalty kick in the eighth minute, and then the teams went back and forth. Lani Smith tied the game for Akron in the 23rd minute, but Starck answered with her first goal of the season on an overhead kick in the box to put Ball State back on top before halftime.
That lead held until the 59th minute when Smith scored her second goal of the day to bring the Zips even once again. But Jacobs came through less than 10 minutes later with the seventh game-winning goal of her career, tying for fourth in the Ball State record book.
The Cardinals have now won four of their past five games after starting 2-3 in conference play. They will close out the regular season at 3 p.m. Thursday against Miami at the Briner Sports Complex. The RedHawks have already secured the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament.
