For the first time in its short history, the Ball State women's soccer team lost the first match of the year, dropping one at home Friday afternoon to the Butler Bulldogs 2-1.
Butler's Amy Morrison scored twice, the first a header coming from a Butler corner kick six minutes into the match. The other came from the middle of the box off a deflected pass 12 minutes in. These two goals were the difference in the game.
Michelle Dineen was able to pull the Cardinals to within a goal midway through the first half when she scored off a direct kick from about 35 yards out. The goal was Dineen's fourth of her career.
Both teams failed to score in the second half, although Head Coach Ron Rainey thought that Ball State's play was much more aggressive.
"We dug ourselves in a tough hole today," Rainey said. "We didn't play well the first 30 minutes, but I thought we came back and played much better over the last 60 minutes. We took them out of what they wanted to do defensively and got some shots off."
Butler's goalkeeper, Amber Stauch, made three saves in the match, all coming in the second half.
"We put some pressure on them and were able force their goalkeeper to make some saves," Rainey said.
Ball State's Megan Swafford was able to manage four saves throughout the game.
"We have to come out and react better to the opponents we play so we can avoid bad starts," Rainey said. "We came out tentative today and that really hurts."
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