Suffering from a limited amount of team rhythm in its first weekend of Mid-American Conference play, the Ball State University soccer team finished with a one-win, one-loss weekend. Buffalo found the goal early Sunday and kept Ball State from finding an offensive rhythm for most of the game, giving Buffalo a 1-0 victory.
"We didn't have much of a rhythm in the first half and I really think it was a tough game for both teams to find any type of rhythm," coach Ron Rainey said. "We had them under pressure in the second half but couldn't get good scoring chances against [Buffalo's] goalkeeper."
Junior Amy Holst said the team's halftime adjustments to increase scoring chances helped but they didn't get the job done.
"We really didn't get adjusted to their field until late in the game," Holst said. "We had enough people getting scoring opportunities; it's just their defense kept us from finishing."
Ball State (8-2 overall, 1-1 MAC) switched in the second half from four defenders to only two, intending to push the ball forward into better scoring positions. Buffalo (3-5-1 overall, 1-1 MAC) responded by adding more defenders in its backfield. Rainey said conference games like this one come down to which team can do the little things to win.
"A lot of the little things are going to be deciding games in MAC play," Rainey said. "I think our team understands that, and we'll do better next time of finishing on our scoring chances."
Ball State had to overcome difficulties adjusting to its opponent's fields in both away games this weekend. Friday's game against Kent State (4-5-1 overall, 1-1 MAC) was played on a field 12 yards shorter and six yards narrower than normal playing fields. Junior goalkeeper Alison Becker said the Cardinals had to be a lot more aggressive to get the 2-0 win.
"We had to play a lot more direct and a lot more over-the-top than usual," Becker said. "It was a totally different game because it was so quick."
The short field meant Ball State's forwards did not have much room to make plays, and the Cardinal defense had even less room to defend against Kent State's attackers. Becker, however, came away with five saves and her fourth shutout of the season helping Ball State's defense shut down Kent State's fast attack.
Sophomore midfielder Angie Heyer and senior Lindsay Wiltshire scored the game's only goals. Wiltshire scored for the second time of the season off of a penalty kick in the 64th minute of the game.
Ball State came into the weekend ranked No. 13 in the Great Lakes Region by SoccerBuzz.com. It was the second time this season Buffalo has knocked off a regionally-ranked team. Holst said she felt the weekend went well for the Cardinals and hopes they can regain their focus for next weekend.
"I think we're all encouraged by the aggressiveness and intensity we played with," Holst said. "We'll go into this week looking to work on finishing with the ball and trying to get our rhythm again."
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