Last weekend the freshmen carried Ball State University (3-1) to two victories through strong offensive performances. This weekend, a weaker offensive performance was led by junior Amy Holst, who played in her first two games since returning from an ankle injury.
Holst scored the only Ball State goal of the weekend in a 1-0 victory over Youngstown State University (0-4) on Sunday and led the team in shots (4) in a 1-0 loss to Illinois State (2-1-1) on Friday. Holst’s goal against Youngstown State came off of a pass from sophomore Sarah Leibel that hit Youngstown State’s goalkeeper Jessica Yarter. The ball bounced back to Holst who hit it in for the score with 26:30 remaining in the game.
“The goal wasn’t pretty but you do what you can to get it in the net,” Holst said.
Ball State’s weekend was filled with missed opportunities at the goal. Ball State took 48 shots during both games and only produced 13 shots on goal. The 48 shots were 12 more than the two games last weekend and provided five less goals. The Cardinals also had a 20-4 corner kick advantage in both games. Coach Ron Rainey said the team shouldn’t expect to score three goals every game.
“It’s fools gold to think we’re going to average three goals a game,” Rainey said.
The Cardinal defense played a pivotal role in both games. The defense allowed only 11 shots against Ball State’s goal, including only two against Youngstown State, resulting in a 33-2 shot advantage for the Cardinals.
Both opponents played well defensively too. Yarter had a career-high nine saves, keeping seven different Ball State players from scoring. Rainey said the team will work on finishing with the ball during this week’s practices.
“We obviously have to work on getting the ball on frame and do a little bit better job finishing, not just shooting,” Rainey said. “Give Youngstown State credit because they played very well defensively and were well organized.”
Illinois State used a defensive strategy to put more pressure on the Ball State offense. After taking a 1-0 lead at the 30:39 mark in the first half, Illinois State dropped offensive players back defensively in order to clog up the goal and stop Ball State shots.
“[Illinois State] was defending a lead so they could drop back defensively because it didn’t matter if they scored again,” Rainey said. “We had some good chances, but they did a nice job clearing balls away from the goal.”
Liebel led the team in overall amount of shots over the weekend with 11 total. Junior Vandi Ogden combined for six shots on the weekend, while the Cardinals leading scorer freshman Emily Rein shot five times.
Rainey said that the team is need of finding its personality.
“I do think our team is trying to figure out who we are and what our team’s personality is,” Rainey said. “That’s what next week’s practice is going to help figure out.”
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
