After two months and nine games, the Ball State University field hockey team's chance of finishing second and receiving a bye in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament has come down to one weekend.
Tied for third place in the conference with Miami University, the Cardinals will play their conference regular season finale this Sunday afternoon against Missouri State University.
"It's crazy, this weekend anything can happen," coach Annette Payne said. "This is an important game and big weekend for us."
Entering this season's final weekend, Ball State and Miami have a 5-4 conference record, and are a half-game behind Central Michigan University for second place.
The teams with the top two conference records in the MAC will automatically receive a bye into the semi-finals of the conference tournament, which begins Thursday, Nov. 2.
Last weekend, Ohio University defeated Kent State University and Missouri State to guarantee them a bye in the first round of the MAC tournament and at least a share of the conference regular season title.
Ball State, Central Michigan and Miami have not been mathematically eliminated from finishing in second.
"I'm not going to lie, I think everyone will be watching what happens everywhere this weekend," Payne said. "If we get a bye that's a great thing, but if we don't that just means that we have one more game to play."
In order for Ball State to finish in a tie for second place, it would need to beat the Bears on Sunday and have Central Michigan lose to either Kent State or Ohio in its final two games of the season.
If the Cardinals lose their game Sunday, they would then need to have Central Michigan lose both of its games this weekend and Miami would have to lose this afternoon to Missouri State in order for them to remain eligible for second place.
In the event that Ball State and Miami are tied at the end of the weekend, the Cardinals hold the tie-breaker over the Red Hawks, having a better head-to-head goal differential.
Also, if Ball State is tied with Central Michigan at the end of this weekend, the tie-breaker may come down to a coin toss. Currently Ball State and Central Michigan would remain tied after the first two tie-breaker categories, head-to-head record and head-to-head goal difference.
"We're just thinking about what Ball State does [this weekend] and we are thinking about a victory," forward Lindsay Quay said. "Fate will take care of itself, we just have to control our own destiny."
The Cardinals have never finished above fourth place in the conference since 1999, and they have yet to win a MAC Tournament game since the Cardinals won their first round game of the 2001 conference tournament.
Despite this five-year drought, for many of the Ball State players there is confidence this is the year they will win the school's first MAC field hockey championship since 1999, according to Quay.
"I came into the season knowing that we were going to win the MAC and I don't think anyone on the team doubts that," she said.
With a 5-4 record, the Cardinals will be able to secure their first winning record in conference play since 1999 if they win Sunday's game against the Bears.
"We don't feel any pressure," Quay said. "We've been in the lowest of lows and scraped ourselves up to where we are now. I think we play better with our backs to the wall and we need something pushing us."
The Cardinals enter this game against Missouri State on a two-game losing streak after they lost to Miami 1-0 in overtime and Central Michigan 4-3 last weekend.
Prior to this current losing streak, Ball State won five conference games and were tied for first place in the MAC.
"After that five-game winning streak our confidence had sky-rocketed up and now we are back to our humble selves," Quay said. "We have to get our confidence up by beating [Missouri State] and having something positive going into the tournament."
One of the biggest reasons for the Cardinals' success in the MAC this season has been freshman goalkeeper Caroline Lehman.
Lehman is ranked third among conference goalies with 107 saves and has 2.61 goals against average in conference play.
Earlier this week Lehman was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week after having a career-high 15 saves in Ball State's loss to Miami.
"Our freshman goalkeeper has stepped up in big situations and is very key to us being successful in the future," Quay said. "We know that she can [make saves], and that is propelling this team into the MAC."
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
