Fifth-seed Ball State travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. today fortheir quarterfinals match-up with fourth-seeded Western Michigan inthe Mid-American Conference tournament.
The Cardinals (10-3-6 overall, 5-2-5 MAC) finished fifth in theregular season after Miami defeated Eastern Michigan lastweekend.
Earlier in the year, Western Michigan defeated the Cardinals,1-0. Laura White scored the winning goal in the 75th minute, sixyards from the post after a long serve. The setback was one of onlytwo on the road for the Cardinals for the season.
Coach Ron Rainey called the Broncos one of the top teams in theMAC, and that they like to serve balls into the box, and play azone on the defensive end.
"Hopefully, we'll use our knowledge from that last game andattack them well, and defensively," he said. "We have to come outwith a lot of intensity and cut down on any mental mistakes, bothon the attack and defending."
Ball State's six ties for the season is the most in a singleseason in the program's six-year history. With five road wins, theCardinals also tied the program's record for most road wins in aseason. The Cardinals are the only MAC squad to have finished inthe top five the past three years.
The Broncos enter the quarterfinal match-up with a regularseason record of 11-5-3 overall and 6-3-3 in the MAC. Last weekend,Western Michigan fell to Michigan, 2-1. Sara Cultra scored the lonegoal in the 63rd minute, while Lea Perz made seven saves.
Western Michigan is well balanced when attacking. No player hasmore than five goals, but 12 players netted at least one goalduring the regular season. Mandi Marsh leads the team with 14points.
"That's a product of how well coached they are. Differentplayers are putting themselves in position to score goals," coachRon Rainey said.
"We just have to make sure that when balls get into our defense,we're marked-up everywhere, not only where the ball is goinginitially, but we're also collecting second balls," he said.
Elsewhere in the MAC, top-seeded Kent State, who shared the MACregular-season championship for the second straight year, playlast-seeded Bowling Green. Seventh-place Eastern Michigan visitssecond-seeded Ohio, and sixth-seeded Miami travels to third-placeCentral Michigan.
Kent State shared the regular season title with Ohio, butbecause the Golden Flashes won their game with the Bobcats earlierin the year, they enter the tournament as the top seed.
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