Ball State University Athletics
Soccer to Play for MAC West Crown Thursday
October 28, 2014 | Soccer
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State soccer team will play for the Mid-American Conference West Division championship and postseason tournament seeding Thursday against Miami.
The Cardinals host the RedHawks at 3 p.m. at the Briner Sports Complex, entering the game tied with Eastern Michigan for the top spot in the MAC West Division. It will be a 300-point bonus event in the Ball State Student Rewards Program, and free live audio will be available at ballstatesports.com through WCRD, Ball State's student radio station.
Eastern Michigan will conclude its regular season Thursday afternoon at Bowling Green. Ball State can share the West crown by matching EMU's result and can win the title outright by posting a better result than the Eagles.
Buffalo has already locked up the overall regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Miami has secured the No. 2 seed. Ball State can earn one of the top four seeds and a first-round tournament home game with a win, a draw or a Northern Illinois loss.
Ball State is coming off an offensive-minded, 4-2 win over Akron and is once again the highest scoring team in the league with 28 goals. It has been a balanced attack for the Cardinals with 14 different players finding the net, led by Gabby Veldman and Leah Mattingly with four each. Mattingly is the top scorer among all defenders in the MAC.
Miami is just one goal behind Ball State with 27 on the season and features two of the league's top five goal scorers in Kelsey Dinges (9) and Kat Zalar (6). The RedHawks had an eight-game unbeaten streak snapped Sunday with a 2-0 loss at Buffalo as the Bulls clinched the regular season title.
Thursday's game is a rematch of last year's MAC Tournament semifinal that saw Ball State advance over the RedHawks in penalty kicks after the game ended in a scoreless draw. The Cardinals own a slim 8-7-3 lead in the all-time series.
For a complete preview of Thursday's game, check out This Week in Ball State Soccer.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State soccer, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateSoccer on Twitter.
