Ball State University Athletics
Friday, September 30
Ypsilanti, Mich.
5:00 PM
Ball State University
at
Eastern Michigan
Taylor Pooley
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Soccer Takes Shutout Streak into Road Weekend
September 28, 2016 | Soccer
Game 11
Ball State at Eastern Michigan
Friday, Sept. 30 (5 p.m.)
Ypsilanti, Mich. (Scicluna Field)
Game 12
Ball State at Central Michigan
Sunday, Oct. 2 (1 p.m.)
Mount Pleasant, Mich. (CMU Soccer Complex)
You can't win if you can't score. That's a simple truth opponents of the Ball State soccer team have learned the hard way over the past several weeks.
That's because the last goal the Cardinals allowed came more than three weeks ago and more than 2,000 miles away on their trip to California.
Since that Sept. 4 defeat at Loyola Marymount, Ball State has rattled off four shutout victories in a row. The team has played 378 minutes over that stretch, posting wins over Louisville (double overtime), Morehead State, Buffalo and Akron.
Last weekend, both wins came by scores of 1-0 with Lauren Roll and Sam Kambol accounting for the Ball State goals. They matched Lorina White for the team lead with three scores this season.
The Cardinals (7-2-1, 2-0-0 MAC) will put their streak on the line this weekend with their first road games of Mid-American Conference play.
On Friday, they'll face an Eastern Michigan team (2-6-2, 0-2-0 MAC) coming off losses to Western Michigan and Northern Illinois in the opening weekend of MAC play. Ellie Tillar leads EMU offensively with three goals and two assists.
The Eagles tested themselves with three Power 5 conference opponents in the non-conference portion of the schedule, defeating Oregon State and falling to Minnesota and Iowa.
Sunday's opponent, Central Michigan (9-1-0, 1-1-0 MAC), won its first eight games of the season before suffering its first loss in its conference opener at Northern Illinois. The Chippewas bounced back with a 2-1 win at defending MAC Tournament champion Western Michigan.
CMU will open its weekend Friday against Miami before Ball State visits. The Chippewas feature the MAC's leading scorer in Alexis Pelafas, who has scored 10 times already. She has accounted for more than half of the team's league-high 19 goals.
Ball State, on the other hand, leads the league defensively with a 0.77 goals against average. The Cardinals uncharacteristically surrendered four goals in the Sept. 4 loss at Loyola Marymount. That's the same number they have allowed in their other nine games combined.
The last time Ball State won four consecutive games by shutout was during the 2007 season. That team had five straight shutout wins and held opponents scoreless for a total of seven games in a row (six wins and one draw).
Players Mentioned
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