Ball State University
(1-8)
Ohio University
(4-4)
Field Hockey Tested By Ohio In Non-Conference Action
September 26, 2015 | Field Hockey
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State (1-8) field hockey team took on Ohio (4-4) in non-conference play Saturday afternoon and fell to the Bobcats 4-2 despite junior Mikayla Mooney (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) scoring her first goal of the season.
The Cardinals and the Bobcats remained scoreless through the first 20 minutes of the game, until Ohio's Maria Russell scored her first of a hat trick performance. Senior Natalie Jardell (Granville, Ohio/Granville) notched her second of the season shortly thereafter in the 23rd minute with the help of Bryce Barnes (Fredericksburg, Va./Mountain View) and Bethany Han (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) off of a penalty corner opportunity. Ohio then tallied three goals in a row, to sit at a comfortable 4-1 lead by 53 minutes into the game.
Mooney then rounded out the day's scoring in the 56th minute with her first of the season after she tipped in a penalty corner from Han to finalize the score at 4-2 in favor of the Bobcats.
“There were some great individual performances happening, there's some great connections that we're making, and there are some people stepping up and being consistent in their roles,” Ball State field hockey head coach Sally Northcroft said. “But at the same time though, we need all 11 people to know exactly where they need to be and what they need to do.”
Back in net, junior goalkeeper Jordan Dues (Fallbrook, Calif./Fallbrook) made her ninth start of the season and recorded seven saves when faced with 18 attempted shots.
Testing Dues was the Ohio offense, which tallied 11 shots on goal from the 18 attempted, compared to the Cardinals 10 attempted shots with six on net.
Penalty corner opportunities were crucial in the non-conference matchup, as four of the six goals were scored off the advantage. The Bobcats greatly benefitted from 12 penalty corner opportunities to Ball State's five attempts at the top of the circle.
“I think in the second half there was a big adjustment. It was important how we handled possession and taking advantage of opportunities,” Northcroft added. “I think we still need to do a better job with our transition, making it a quicker restart and being available quicker for teammates. We have a good opportunity to work on that tomorrow, so it's nice to have such a short turnaround in that sense.”
Up next, the Ball State field hockey team continues home action when they welcome No. 16 Iowa to the Briner Sports Complex for non-conference play tomorrow at noon. The matchup will also be broadcasted on ESPN3 for fans unable to attend.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State field hockey, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateFH on Twitter.
Team Stats
RUSSELL, Maria (6)
Assisted By: LEICKLY, Clarissa
Penalty corner deflection
20:34
JARDELL, Natalie (2)
Assisted By: BARNES, Bryce , HAN, Bethany
Off a penalty corner
23:58
RUSSELL, Maria (7)
Assisted By: CURLEY, Elena
Penalty corner deflection
27:56
RUSSELL, Maria (8)
from right of net, cross to left corner
44:35
EGGLESTON, Emma (2)
Assisted By: CURLEY, Elena
up from opposite end into circle, Eggles
53:33
MOONEY, Mikayla (1)
Assisted By: HAN, Bethany
Off a penalty corner
56:57
