Soccer Sets out for Road Trip to Buffalo, Akron

Thursday, October 19

Buffalo, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Ball State University

Buffalo

Photo by: Scott Mattlin

October 18, 2017 | Soccer

Weekly Notes

Cardinals sitting second in overall MAC standings with three to play

Game 17
Ball State at Buffalo
Thursday, Oct. 19 (7 p.m.)
Buffalo, N.Y. (UB Stadium)
Watch | Live Stats

Game 18
Ball State at Akron
Sunday, Oct. 22 (1 p.m.)
Akron, Ohio (FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field)
Watch | Live Stats

The Mid-American Conference race is reaching the home stretch as the Ball State soccer team heads out on the road for its final three regular season games.

The Cardinals begin that stretch this week with their farthest league trip of the season to face MAC East Division opponents Buffalo and Akron.

Ball State (8-6-2, 6-1-1 MAC) is second in the overall conference standings as it chases a third straight MAC regular season title, something never accomplished by any program in the league. A good road weekend would certainly help the cause.

The Cardinals are second in the MAC standings with 19 points, just two behind first-place Kent State. They are the only team to defeat the Golden Flashes in league play so far.

Ball State has already locked up its spot in the eight-team MAC Tournament and is seeking to secure a quarterfinal home game as a top-four seed. If the tournament started today, Kent State (21 points), Ball State (19), Northern Illinois (15) and Bowling Green (15) would all host.

The Cardinals maintained the top spot in the league's West Division last weekend with a pair of shutout home wins, 3-0 over Eastern Michigan and 1-0 over Central Michigan. The team had four different goal scorers on the weekend in Amanda Shaw, Alessandra Fistrovich, Emily Scott and Peighton Cook.

Cook's first career goal came in the 72nd minute Sunday to break a scoreless tie with Central Michigan and proved to be the game winner on a windy day at the Briner Sports Complex.

Tristin Stuteville kept a clean sheet in both games last week and has teamed with Senior CLASS Award finalist Alyssa Heintschel to shut out four of Ball State's past five opponents. The Cardinals' back line produced two of its best performances of the season last weekend, holding both EMU and CMU to a combined six shots.

Buffalo is 6-7-2 (4-3-1 MAC) and tied for third in the MAC East Division. The Bulls split two road games last weekend, falling 3-2 to Bowling Green and posting a 1-0 victory over Toledo. UB's Carissima Cutrona is tied with Ball State's Julia Elvbo for the MAC lead with three game-winning goals in conference play, while goalkeeper Laura Dougall is second with an .846 save percentage in league action.

Akron is 1-13-2 (0-7-1 MAC). The Zips dropped two road games last weekend, falling 4-2 at Toledo and 2-0 at Bowling Green. Akron will host Miami on Thursday before Ball State visits on Sunday. The Zips have their final three games at home.

Ball State played both of this weekend's opponents in Muncie last season, posting a pair of 1-0 victories.

The Cardinals out-shot Buffalo 20-1 and scored on a goal from Lauren Roll in the 11th minute to earn the 100th career victory for head coach Craig Roberts. A 54th-minute goal from Sam Kambol two days later proved to be the game-winner against Akron. Heintschel recorded the shutout against the Bulls, while Stuteville posted one against the Zips.