Excitement is overflowing from the seniors on the Ball State University soccer team.
The No. 2 team in the Mid-American Conference tournament will be looking to advance past the quarterfinals today for the first time since 2002, and for only the second time in team history.
"I'm so excited heading into the game and so is everybody on the team," senior defender Krista Mitts said. "We feel we have a really good chance this year to go on and I'm personally excited because it's the first time we've been a number two seed since my freshman year."
Mitts and her fellow three seniors will have one last chance to make it past the opening round today against No. 7 Kent State at Ball State Soccer Field.
Mitts and senior Lindsay Wiltshire played on the bench the last time the Cardinals advanced past the first round of the tournament. Ball State defeated Western Michigan 3-1, before losing to Ohio 1-0 in the semi-finals in 2002. Wiltshire said the similarities between the team in 2002 and 2005 make her excited about the team's chances in this year's tournament.
"We had a really talented team my freshman year and I've see this year's team play a similar offense and defense to that team," Wiltshire said. "That makes me really excited about our chances this week."
Today's meeting between Ball State and Kent State is the second of the season between the two teams. Ball State defeated the Golden Flashes 2-0 at Kent State. Ball State, however, should expect a different type of game this time around. Kent State's home field is 12 yards shorter and six yards narrower than normal playing fields like Ball State's.
"We fully expect an entirely different game because Kent's field is so much smaller than our field so this game will have a lot of different strategy," Wiltshire said. "It will probably be a lot slower than the quick style in the game earlier this season. Hopefully we can take advantage of them being used to a smaller field."
For today's game the Cardinals will be relying on an offense that lost top scorer freshman Emily Rein to an ACL tear last week. The defense may be called upon for an even greater role during the tournament, and Mitts said the defense is prepared do give all it can.
"We've really stepped up all year and to finish with only 12 goals allowed in a season is really remarkable," Mitts said. "I feel really comfortable heading into [today] with how our defense is playing."
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