Now in the final stretch of its season, the Ball State soccerteam plays its final home game of the year on Friday against WrightState, then travels to Akron to play the Zips on Sunday.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, two ofthem in conference play, the Cardinals look to at least maintaintheir third-place status in the Mid-American Conference.
Currently, Ball State (10-2-4 overall, 5-2-4 MAC) has 14 pointsin the MAC, one point ahead of Kent State and one point behindCentral Michigan. Ohio leads the MAC with 17 points and is in themidst of an 11-game undefeated streak, including eight wins.
Wright State enters Friday with a record of 7-7-1. Last weekend,the Raiders lost 2-0 to Detroit and 1-0 against Loyola. Loyola'sgoal was one of only two shots for the game, while the Raiders took12.
Akron -- currently 12th in the MAC at 1-9 (3-11) -- has beengreatly outshot for the season, 186-93. The Zips sit in thebasement of the MAC in several statistical categories, includingshots, points, goals and assists. Opponents have outscored the Zips25-6 for the season, including 20-3 in the MAC.
Meanwhile, Ball State continues to play outstanding defense, asevidenced by having allowed the fewest goals in the MAC (12), andthe lowest goals-against average at 0.71. The Cardinals are in themidst of a four-game winning streak, and have won five of theirlast six.
"It's been nice to get those results," head coach Ron Raineysaid. "Sometimes results in soccer can go either way. We're justtrying to worry about the process."
The Cardinals have improved on scoring chances in the past fewgames, and Rainey credited the improvement to getting the ball indangerous areas, players realizing what's effective offensively,and getting some lucky bounces.
"It's just a matter of catching a break where we strike it theway we need to, or the goalkeeper not coming up with the save," hesaid. "We've been getting these chances all year, but it's nice tosee some go in the goal in the last couple of weeks."
Kate Nadalin is tied for fifth in the league in assists withfive, and fifth in shots-per-game with 48. She leads the Cardinalsin points with 14, while Dee Nocero leads the team with fivegoals.
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