In only its sixth year of existence, the Ball State women's soccer team will look to make it to the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the third straight season.
"We have a season where we've challenged ourselves with our schedule," head coach Ron Rainey said. "Our goals this year are similar to last year; we want to finish as high in the MAC as possible."
The Cardinals will need to finish in the top eight of 13 MAC teams to qualify for the MAC Tournament. After that, the team will look to make its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament by winning the championship.
The Cardinals will have key offense players returning to help with that, including First Team All-MAC and All-Region Second Team selection senior Dee Nocero.
Last season, Nocero led the team in goals with seven, six of which were game-winning. She also had the most shots (56) and shots on goal (27).
Another senior, Kate Nadalin, will also bring an offensive presence to the team. She ranked second behind Nocero last season in goals (5), shots (50) and shots on goal (20) last season.
"To have that kind of continuity, you're going to get dangerous with those two," Rainey said. "Our challenge with them is to put them in position with good scoring changes four or five times a game."
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals lost key defensive players. Among the players was goalkeeper Megan Swafford, who played all 20 games, had 53 saves, two shutouts and a .51 goals against average. All-MAC Second Team defenseman Michelle Dineen also graduated.
"We lost a lot on the defensive side of the field," Rainey said. "We have to make sure that we get our defenders up to speed with whoever is going to be in there."
One returning defender is sophomore Sarah Maxwell, who after playing all 20 games last season was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. Maxwell and sophomore Amy Holst, a midfielder, were the first Cards in team history to be named to the All-MAC Freshman Team.
Maxwell will be part of a defense that Rainey said will be a mixture of returners and young members.
"That's been one of the strengths over the past few years, and we want to keep it that way," Rainey said about the defense.
The Cardinals have a short time to prepare for their first exhibition match against Indiana State, so Rainey said he is hopeful the team did everything they needed to during the summer.
"People have to have stepped up through the summer time and taken the team to the next level," Rainey said. "I"m hopeful our seniors will take a lead in that.
"Our expectations are that every single person comes in top shape."
As the season gets underway, Rainey said he is excited to see the team form its own personality.
"The fall season is a great time to see what personality this team takes on and how they compete," Rainey said.
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