MAC Soccer Champs Clash Thursday in Muncie

Game 13
Ball State vs. Western Michigan
Thursday, Oct. 6 (5 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Briner Sports Complex)

Game 14
Ball State at Northern Illinois
Sunday, Oct. 9 (2 p.m. CT/3 ET)
DeKalb, Ill. (NIU Soccer Complex)

After opening at an all-time high of No. 49 in the first NCAA RPI of the season, the Ball State soccer team checks in at No. 51 this week. The Cardinals are the second-highest rated team in the state of Indiana, trailing only Notre Dame of the ACC.

Ball State is coming off a shutout performance against Central Michigan, which entered the game as the second-highest scoring team in the Mid-American Conference. This week, the Cardinals will get a look at the league's highest scoring team.

Western Michigan, with 22 goals, will visit the Briner Sports Complex for a Thursday contest between a pair of defending champions. Ball State (8-2-2, 3-0-1 MAC) won last year's MAC regular season championship, while WMU (8-4-0, 2-2-0 MAC) claimed the tournament title.

Thursday's matchup is the first game of a split week for the Cardinals, who will then travel to play Sunday at Northern Illinois (4-5-2, 3-1-0 MAC).

Ball State's draw at Central Michigan kept the Cardinals undefeated in conference play, atop the MAC West Division and unbeaten in six straight games.

While leading the MAC with a 0.71 goals against average, Ball State also ranks second in the league with 20 goals scored. Lauren Roll posted her team-leading fourth goal of the season in last Friday's win at Eastern Michigan, while Lorina White and Sam Kambol have three goals each.

Ball State and Western Michigan have split the past two meetings. The Cardinals won 1-0 in Muncie in 2014, and the Broncos won a 2-1, double-overtime decision in 2015 in Kalamazoo. That loss was the only defeat the Cardinals suffered during conference play last year.

In the series with Northern Illinois, Ball State is unbeaten over the past five meetings (four wins and one tie). The Cardinals won last year's contest 4-0 in DeKalb.

NIU will travel to play Thursday at Miami before returning home to host the Cardinals. The Huskies have scored 10 goals as a team, and eight of those have come since the start of conference play. They feature the league's fourth-leading scorer in Taylor Sarver with six goals.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Kambol

Lauren Roll

Lorina White

Ball State University Athletics