Ball State University Athletics
Field Hockey To Host Central Michigan & Saint Louis
September 26, 2014 | Field Hockey
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State field hockey team (3-4) will open its Mid-American Conference play this weekend against Central Michigan (1-8) Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by non-conference Saint Louis (1-7) Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Briner Sports Complex.
Ball State is coming off of a road loss at Northwestern after falling 5-1. Junior Bethany Han (Lititz, Pa/Warwick) scored the lone goal for the Cardinals unassisted. Han was aggressive offensively with five recorded shots and four on net against Northwestern and is tied for second in goals per game average (0.57) and third for goals scored (4) in the MAC.
“This team has no idea how good they can be, and that is really exciting for me,” Ball State field hockey head coach Beth Maddox went on. “I can't wait to show everyone how incredible this team is.”
The Cardinals are ranked third in the MAC in scoring margin (0.71), scoring average (1.84), goals against average (2.55), goals allowed (18), goals allowed per game (2.57), assists (12), assists per game (2.40), assists per game (1.71) and saves (56).
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Shelby Henley (Novi, Mich./Novi) leads the MAC in save percentage with 0.750 and in saves per game (8.00). Henley is also ranked tenth nationally for her 8.00 saves per game average.
Other Cardinals making an appearance in the rankings are seniors Bianca Velez (Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd E. Kellam/Beach Premier) and Tori Widrick (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia/BC Cyclones) who are tied with each other for third in assists (3) and assists per game (0.43) in the MAC.
Ball State has played a highly competitive schedule ahead of this weekend's MAC opener. The Cardinals' last win came on Sept. 6, 2-1 over Colgate, and they have since lost to No. 11 Syracuse, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 20 Indiana and Northwestern by a combined 15-3.
SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Central Michigan currently holds a 1-8 record in the 2014 season. The Chippewas' are second in the MAC, right behind the Cardinals, in saves per game with 7.89. Sadie Reynolds has been in net for Central Michigan and has registered 37 goals against, 5.29 goals against average and a 0.654 save percentage while facing 166 shots. Cayleigh Immelman, Kaysie Gregory and Haley Bova have each scored two goals for the Chippewas.
SERIES HISTORY: Ball State goes into Saturday's game with the 40-28 (0.588) advantage over Central Michigan, though the Chippewas' have won the last six years in a row in the meetings of the two teams. Most recently, Central Michigan was last in Muncie in 2012 and went home with a 2-5 victory over the Cardinals.
SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS: Saint Louis is 1-7 to start the season with senior Faith Mackin leading the team with three goals. Goalkeeping duties have been split between junior Tori Westhead and senior Megan Depew-Brady for a combined 38 goals against, 6.11 goal against average while registering a 0.651 save percentage on 162 shots faced.
SERIES HISTORY: Ball State carries the 8-6 all-time advantage over Saint Louis, though the Billikens have come out with the last two wins 2-3 in Muncie and 2-4 in St. Louis, Mo.
Live stats and broadcast will be available for fans unable to attend the game at:
LIVE STATS: http://ballstatesports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPID=7632
LIVE BROADCAST: http://ballstatesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=7632&db_oem_id=14200
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State field hockey, check out BallStateSports.com and follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateFH on Twitter.
