Thursday, August 21
Bloomington, Ind.
5 PM
Ball State University
at
Indiana
Photo by: Samantha Blankenship (Ball State Creative Services)
Soccer Hitting the Road for Matches at Indiana Thursday and Eastern Illinois Sunday
August 20, 2025 | Soccer
The Ball State soccer team hits the road for contests at Indiana on Thursday and Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
Thursday's match is set for 5 p.m., and will air on B1G+, while Sunday's matchup has a 2 p.m. ET (1 CT) kickoff and broadcast on ESPN+. Links to the streams and live stats for both games can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (0-1) got goals from seniors Addie Chester and Delaney Caldwell on Sunday afternoon against Purdue but fell 5-2 in the season opener at the Briner Sports Complex.
Ball State will see familiar faces on Thursday in Bloomington, as head coach Josh Rife begins his tenure at Indiana after coaching the Cardinals from 2019 to 2024. Rife brought along assistant coaches Mary Seiffert and Peyton York as part of his initial coaching staff for the Hoosiers.
Indiana (1-0) beat Youngstown State 6-1 last Thursday night at home to begin its season. Sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith scored a pair of goals and tallied an assist in a match where the hosts got five goals in the second half. The Hoosiers went 6-9-2 (1-9-1 Big Ten) last season and were projected to finish 17th in the 18-team league in the recently released preseason poll.
Eastern Illinois (0-2) fell 4-0 at Southern Illinois in its season opener last Thursday before dropping a 1-0 decision at Akron on Sunday. The Panthers host IU Indy on Thursday afternoon in advance of welcoming Ball State at Lakeside Field on Sunday.
Dirk Bennett is in his third season in charge at EIU, who finished 5-8-6 (3-3-3 Ohio Valley) in 2024 for a sixth-place finish in the 10-team OVC. The Panthers have only five shots on goal through 180 minutes this year.
Next up for the Cardinals after these two matches is another road contest at IU Indy on Sunday, Aug. 31. Ball State's next scheduled home match is Sept. 7 vs Butler.
DYNAMIC DUO: Ball State is led offensively by the duo of Chester and Caldwell who each had eight assists last season to set a new program record. Both had a goal in last Sunday's season opener vs Purdue.
Chester also tied the program record for points in a season at 28 by scoring 10 goals in addition to the eight helpers on her way to a First Team All-MAC honor.
Caldwell is three assists away from tying Ehren Reagor's program record of 18 in a career, while she is three points and four goals away from cracking the Top 5 in those career categories as well.
BACKLINE IS BACK: The Ball State backline is anchored by juniors Delaney Ahearn and Audrey Goodyear, who led the 2024 Cardinals in minutes played, along with an experience goalie group featuring graduate Abby Jenkins, senior Grace Konopatzki and sophomore Kate Pallante who each played in at least six games last year.
STOOTS ERA IS STARTING: Head coach Andy Stoots comes to Muncie after most recently serving as the women's soccer associate head coach for four seasons at Missouri.
Other stops as an assistant coach on his resume include Louisville, Minnesota, Samford, Belmont, East Tennessee State and Troy.
ROSTER RUNDOWN: Seven freshmen and three incoming transfers join 17 returners to form the 2025 roster.
The three transfers are senior midfielder Fiona Kilian (Temple), sophomore forward Alyssa Mella (Saint Francis) and sophomore defender Joy Zeeman (Saint Francis).
True freshmen include forward Lydia Hill, forward / midfielder Jess Fernau, midfielders Izzy Ross and Balkis Prothro, defenders Grier Isaacson and Jordyn Klaasen and goalkeeper Allison Armitage.
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Thursday's match is set for 5 p.m., and will air on B1G+, while Sunday's matchup has a 2 p.m. ET (1 CT) kickoff and broadcast on ESPN+. Links to the streams and live stats for both games can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (0-1) got goals from seniors Addie Chester and Delaney Caldwell on Sunday afternoon against Purdue but fell 5-2 in the season opener at the Briner Sports Complex.
Ball State will see familiar faces on Thursday in Bloomington, as head coach Josh Rife begins his tenure at Indiana after coaching the Cardinals from 2019 to 2024. Rife brought along assistant coaches Mary Seiffert and Peyton York as part of his initial coaching staff for the Hoosiers.
Indiana (1-0) beat Youngstown State 6-1 last Thursday night at home to begin its season. Sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith scored a pair of goals and tallied an assist in a match where the hosts got five goals in the second half. The Hoosiers went 6-9-2 (1-9-1 Big Ten) last season and were projected to finish 17th in the 18-team league in the recently released preseason poll.
Eastern Illinois (0-2) fell 4-0 at Southern Illinois in its season opener last Thursday before dropping a 1-0 decision at Akron on Sunday. The Panthers host IU Indy on Thursday afternoon in advance of welcoming Ball State at Lakeside Field on Sunday.
Dirk Bennett is in his third season in charge at EIU, who finished 5-8-6 (3-3-3 Ohio Valley) in 2024 for a sixth-place finish in the 10-team OVC. The Panthers have only five shots on goal through 180 minutes this year.
Next up for the Cardinals after these two matches is another road contest at IU Indy on Sunday, Aug. 31. Ball State's next scheduled home match is Sept. 7 vs Butler.
DYNAMIC DUO: Ball State is led offensively by the duo of Chester and Caldwell who each had eight assists last season to set a new program record. Both had a goal in last Sunday's season opener vs Purdue.
Chester also tied the program record for points in a season at 28 by scoring 10 goals in addition to the eight helpers on her way to a First Team All-MAC honor.
Caldwell is three assists away from tying Ehren Reagor's program record of 18 in a career, while she is three points and four goals away from cracking the Top 5 in those career categories as well.
BACKLINE IS BACK: The Ball State backline is anchored by juniors Delaney Ahearn and Audrey Goodyear, who led the 2024 Cardinals in minutes played, along with an experience goalie group featuring graduate Abby Jenkins, senior Grace Konopatzki and sophomore Kate Pallante who each played in at least six games last year.
STOOTS ERA IS STARTING: Head coach Andy Stoots comes to Muncie after most recently serving as the women's soccer associate head coach for four seasons at Missouri.
Other stops as an assistant coach on his resume include Louisville, Minnesota, Samford, Belmont, East Tennessee State and Troy.
ROSTER RUNDOWN: Seven freshmen and three incoming transfers join 17 returners to form the 2025 roster.
The three transfers are senior midfielder Fiona Kilian (Temple), sophomore forward Alyssa Mella (Saint Francis) and sophomore defender Joy Zeeman (Saint Francis).
True freshmen include forward Lydia Hill, forward / midfielder Jess Fernau, midfielders Izzy Ross and Balkis Prothro, defenders Grier Isaacson and Jordyn Klaasen and goalkeeper Allison Armitage.
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