Three weeks ago the Ball State University field hockey team left Athens, Ohio after suffering its worst conference loss in nearly two years.
They lost 4-0 to Ohio University.
However, for coach Annette Payne, when the Cardinals play the Bobcats this afternoon, Ohio will be facing a completely changed team from their last meeting.
"We understood that there were some things which we could have done a little sharper," Payne said. "Today we are a totally different team that has made some great improvements, whether it's our confidence or understanding of the game. These guys have put themselves in a great situation and are looking at this game as a great opportunity."
Since losing to Ohio in their MAC season opener, the Cardinals have a 2-1 conference record with wins against Central Michigan University and Missouri State University.
In addition, Ball State enters Friday's match with wins in its past two games and now has its longest conference winning streak since 2004.
"It's not like Ohio beat us earlier in the season; we beat ourselves," forward Lindsay Quay said. "We didn't do the simple things like moving the ball and if we take that into the game than I think that Ohio is going to see a whole new Ball State team that they're not expecting to see."
One of the biggest reasons for the Cardinals' recent winning streak has been the team's offensive production.
Currently, Ball State is second amongst all MAC teams in shots-per-game average during conference play and has scored five goals in its past three conference games.
Offensively, the Cardinals have been led by Quay, who enters Friday's game on a three-game goal-scoring streak in conference play and has a team-high seven goals this season.
"We always have opportunities to score and just have to finish," Quay said. "We have to draw more corner because those are our greatest opportunities to score."
Despite this recent offensive production, in the Cardinals' past three meetings against the Bobcats Ball State has been shut out twice and has only managed one goal in 210 minutes of play.
"We are going to have to start our attack through our defense and playing solid attack with our defense," Payne said. "This is a super important game and we need to play some great hockey and come ready to play for themselves."
Ohio enters this game in first place in the conference with a 4-1 record and is currently the only team in the conference with an overall winning record at 7-6.
Ball State begins this weekend one-and-a-half games behind the Bobcats and is in sole possession of third place in the MAC standings.
"This game is pretty huge," forward Tara Reed said. "It's Ohio and we always want to beat Ohio. We just have to play our game and we have to do it for us and not do anything for them."
If the Cardinals can beat Ohio it will be only the second time in the past four seasons that Ball State has won three consecutive conference games.
More importantly for Payne, though, if the Cardinals can defeat the Bobcats they will be one step closer to achieving their goal of winning a conference title.
"This team is great overall in the fact that they just keep pursuing," Payne said.
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