Cardinals Continue Stretch Run with Matches vs NIU and at WMU

The Ball State soccer team continues the stretch run of its season when the Cardinals host Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. on Thursday and play at league leader Western Michigan at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Links to Thursday's ESPN+ broadcast, Sunday's video stream and live stats for both matches can be found above and on the schedule page.

The Cardinals (7-6-2, 2-4-2 Mid-American Conference) suffered a 3-2 defeat at Miami (OH) last Friday night. Ball State got ahead 2-0 on a first half goal by Avery Fenchel and early second half score from Delaney Caldwell, but the host RedHawks found the back of the net three times in the span of 13 minutes late in the match for the comeback win.

Northern Illinois (8-4-4, 2-3-3 MAC) is coming off a 2-1 win over Eastern Michigan on Friday. The Huskies are in a tie for eighth in the conference standings entering the week of play.

Western Michigan (8-1-6, 5-0-3 MAC) most recently shut down Akron 2-0 at home on Friday to extend its unbeaten streak in MAC regular season contests to 20 with the win. The Broncos top the conference at 18 points entering the final three matches.

Ball State's eight points put it in 10^th place in the MAC standings. The top six in the final regular season standings make the MAC tourney.

Ball State is second in the MAC in assists per game (2.07, No. 33 nationally), total assists (31) and fewest fouls per game (7.93) while ranking third with 1.8 goals per game and 27 total goals.

1-2 PUNCH: The duo of juniors Delaney Caldwell and Addie Chester stand near the top of the MAC and Division I leaderboards in multiple statistics.

Chester's eight assists lead the league and are 12^th-most nationally, while the duo have three game-winning goals each to top the MAC. Chester also paces the conference in assists per
game (0.53, No. 16 in NCAA Division I). Each student-athlete has seven goals on the year to rank third in the conference.

MILESTONE WATCH: Graduate forward Avery Fenchel's goal on Friday increased her career total to 29, making her one goal away from tying the career program record.

Dee Nocero's 30 goals from 2001-04 are the most in Ball State soccer history.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies went 8-8-3 (6-4-1 MAC) last season in head coach Michael O'Neill's second at the helm. Northern was picked to finish seventh in the MAC preseason coaches poll.

NIU has received the second-most yellow cards in the league (19) and ranks third in total assists (25) and assists per game (1.56) so far this year. The Huskies rank fifth in the MAC in goals per game (1.56) and seventh in goals against average (1.2).

Sophomore forward Tyra King is second in the MAC and 31^st in NCAA Division I in shot accuracy (.595) and third in total goals (seven) and shots on goal per game (1.56).

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos went 12-4-3 (8-0-3 MAC) to win the MAC regular season championship in 2023 before bowing out to Kent State in the tournament semifinals. Head coach Lewis Robinson is in his third season leading the program. WMU was the preseason favorite to win the MAC.

Western tops the league in yellow cards (24, No. 11 nationally), assists per game (2.53, No. 15), total assists (38, No. 16), points per game (6.53), total points (98), shots on goal per game (7.87) and shots per game (17.33).

Graduate forward Jen Blitchok paces the conference and ranks in the Top 15 nationally in points per game (2.0, No. 3), total points (30, No. 6), goals per game (0.8, No. 11), total goals (12, No. 11), shots on goal per game (2.27, No. 11) and shots per game (4.4, No. 14).

Up Next
The Cardinals play at Toledo at 3 p.m. on Oct. 31 in their final match of the regular season.

Cardinals Continue Stretch Run with Matches vs NIU and at WMU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Delaney Caldwell

Addie Chester

Avery Fenchel