Goalkeeper Caroline Lehman had a career-high 15 saves, but the Ball State University field hockey team needed her to make one more.
The Cardinals lost their final home game of the season to Miami [OH] University in overtime, 1-0.
Miami's Danielle Perrecone scored the game's lone goal less than four minutes into the first overtime session after her shot deflected off Ball State forward Carla Chiampi and went into the back of the cage.
"For [Chiampi] it's a tough situation, but Carla played an incredible game and she has done remarkable things for this team," coach Annette Payne said. "It doesn't come down to that last goal and I think that's important for her to realize."
Despite the goal, Lehman made every save in regulation, including making nine saves during the first half.
In addition, Lehman's new career-high 15 saves came five days after she made 12 saves against Miami in a 3-1 win.
"Lehman played great today," Payne said. "She played great against these guys again and the defense as an entire unit set us up for some great opportunities."
Being a freshman, Lehman has the most saves of any freshman goalie in the Mid-American Conference this season and has a goals-against average below two in conference play.
"I feel that I played a strong game today," Lehman said. "Usually I pick out things that I did [wrong], but today I'm pretty happy with the way I played."
Offensively, the Red Hawks held the Cardinals to a season-low one shot on goal for the game.
In addition, forward Lindsay Quay's three-game streak of scoring at least one goal ended in the team's shutout loss. Quay finished the game with the team's only shot on goal.
"[Miami] played well and you have to [give] credit where credit is due," Payne said. "We got one shot and you need more shots than that. We need to get behind the defense and we didn't do that today."
The Cardinals' conference record moves to 5-4, and they are now in a three-way tie with Central Michigan University and Miami [OH] for second place in the MAC.
Entering last weekend, Ball State was tied with Ohio University for first place, but a loss to Central Michigan on Friday and its most recent overtime loss to Miami [OH] have eliminated the Cardinals from first place and the No. 1 seed in the MAC tournament.
However, the Cardinals could still potentially receive a first-round bye in the conference tournament if they finish in second place.
"We know that anything goes in the MAC tournament," Lehman said. "I don't really pay attention to the standings and we just need to play our game and see what happens."
The Cardinals' final game of the season will be against last place Missouri State University on Sunday.
Earlier this season, the Cardinals defeated the Bears 2-0 after scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes.
"We have one game left and that's a super important game," Payne said. "Anything can happen in the MAC and we just need to focus on ourselves."
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