Ball State's starters were stumped. They couldn't find a way to break through Ohio's defense. So coach Ron Rainey called to his bench to break the game open and lead the team to a 2-0 win.
"It was our depth that really helped us today," Rainey said. "The first 20 minutes were real sluggish, and we started subbing, and then the team became real effective on offense and defense."
The breakthrough came at the 71-minute mark, six minutes after substitutions were made. Forward Emily Rein struck the goal off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Laura Bandy. Bandy followed up the goal five minutes later with one of her own.
"Angie [Heyer] sent the ball directly to me at a perfect height for a header," Bandy said. "I was able to head it in off of the left post, and we really shut them down defensively the rest of the game."
The goals were Rein's sixth and Bandy's third this year.
Ball State (12-3, 5-2 MAC) outshot Ohio 16-12, but only three of Ohio's shots were on goal. Rainey said the team buckled down on defense when they had to.
"We didn't give up on any of their scoring chances," Rainey said. "We really played shut-down defense for the better part of the game. We really put together a good effort to get another shutout."
The defense pulled off its seventh shutout of the season, and junior goalkeeper Alison Becker earned her sixth shutout as well.
Rainey said the team will have to come out with more intensity against Akron on Sunday.
"Akron plays with a lot of aggressiveness and intensity, and we really need to come out ready to play from the beginning of the game to the end," Rainey said.
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