Ball State University
2-1
Wright State
1-2
Soccer Opens Home Action With 2-1 Victory
August 29, 2015 | Soccer
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State soccer team used a pair of first-half goals to take down Wright State, 2-1, in its first home game Friday evening at the Briner Sports Complex.
Freshman Abigail Boswell and junior Gabby Veldman scored for the Cardinals, while Alyssa Heintschel made three saves on four shots on goal. Boswell's goal marked the first of her collegiate career.
Veldman scored her second goal of the season when she attacked the net straight on, adding some insurance in just the 17th minute for a two-goal advantage. Boswell's opening goal was a feed across the field from Kelcy Fiser after a free kick.
The Cardinals shut out Wright State through the first half, leading 2-0, with Ball State racking up a 12-4 advantage in shot attempts. Scoring just 12 minutes into the second half, Wright State's Paige Aguilera got the Raiders on the board, although the team ultimately fell to Ball State in total attempted shots 25-8 through the 90 minutes.
“I felt the girls were much improved from last weekend, which was a very similar style to what they played against at Lipscomb and they dealt with it a lot better,” Ball State head coach Craig Roberts said. “We all did well for a bigger portion of the game. It still needs to be tweaked a little bit, and I think we can be a bit more consistent, but for the most part it was much improved so I was delighted with that.”
Persevering through a physical game which included a total of 23 fouls and three yellow cards, Ball State's junior Leah Mattingly was awarded the lone penalty kick of the match after a physical battle with Wright State defenders. The attempt was stopped when Raiders goalkeeper Halle Pyle dove fully outstretched to capture the ball.
Wright State managed to get a couple shots off in the closing minutes, but the Cardinals kept the Raiders from forcing an overtime to preserve the victory. Wright State also held the advantage of three corner kicks to Ball State's two.
“Wright State is a very good team, and I think they are going to do extremely well this season and for us to create that offense in the opening half was really beneficial for us,” Roberts said. “We just need to become consistent with doing that in the coming games. We knew that they were going to come out strong in the second half because they had to dig deep to get those two goals back so we knew they were going to be a lot more direct, which they were, and we had to contest with that. So it ended up us being patient behind the ball and work on a few fundamental areas. Overall we did well as the game went on.”
The victory lifted Ball State to an improved 2-1 record, while Wright State dropped to 1-2. The Cardinals will take on five road matches before returning home again Sept. 25 to host Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan at 5 p.m.
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Team Stats
BOSWELL, Abigail (1)
Assisted By: FISER, Kelcy
GOAL by BSU BOSWELL, Abigail (FIRST GOAL), Assist by FISER, Kelcy, goal number 1 for season.
11:13
VELDMAN, Gabby (2)
GOAL by BSU VELDMAN, Gabby, goal number 2 for season.
17:38
AGUILERA, Paige
Assisted By: ROMERO, Niki
HEADER OFF FOUL TURNOVER
57:51
