The numbers hadn't been attractive in Ball State University's previous three soccer matches. Over the course of three Mid-American Conference competitions, the Cardinals had been out-scored 5-1 against teams with a combined 9-10-2 record.
Searching desperately for answers, coach Michelle Salmon got what she was looking for in the form of Amy Holst. The senior midfielder recorded all three of the Cardinals' goals in a 3-0 win against Akron University on Sunday afternoon.
"I don't care if they're a senior or a freshman," Salmon said. "As long as they're stepping up I'm going to be pretty happy about it. You can't say enough about Amy Holst. She came out today and gave her absolute A-plus game. I'm just completely pleased about her performance. We were looking for someone to step up, and Amy, being a senior captain, stood up and did her job."
The win came after a ho-hum 0-0 double-overtime tie at home against Ohio University. The Cardinals out-shot the Bobcats 24-9, but weren't able to punch in a single goal.
"It's pretty frustrating," junior forward Sarah Leibel said after the match. "We've been getting a lot of shots lately, we just haven't been able to capitalize. We need to just keep attacking and not let the frustration get us down."
After the match, Holst hardly recognized her individual achievement. Instead, she was more concerned with the fact that her natural hat trick helped spark an offense that has looked lethargic over the past two weeks.
"We've been waiting to collect [offensively] and I think we finally did," Holst said. "It was a good team win all around. There was pressure up top, pressure on the midfield and our defense played great for us."
The victory against Akron pushed Ball State's season record to 10-3-3 and improved its MAC record to 5-1-2. However, Salmon said it's impossible to express the magnitude of the win with mere numbers.
"We had an awesome conversation as a team before today's game," Salmon said. "I told them that a season ebbs and flows just like a river. In the beginning of the soccer season we were kind of ebbing and trying to find our identity a little bit. Then we flowed for a while. Then we had some injuries, so we ebbed for a little bit. Now we're getting to where we want to start flowing again."
Perhaps the brightest spot was the unexpected play of sophomore midfielder Leah Johnson. With the loss of Katelyn Alexander in the midfield due to injury, Ball State has been looking for someone to assume her role. Johnson filled in aptly, earning an assist and drawing a penalty kick in the first half.
"There's no one quite like Leah," Salmon said. "She has the ability to step on the field and change the tempo and the mentality of the game. She's a true competitor and fighter, and for us to bring that type of player off the bench just makes the team that much better. So I couldn't be happier with Leah Johnson's play."
Ball State's offense wasn't the only element that improved. The Cardinals' defense, only a weekend removed from giving up five goals in two affairs combined, turned around 180 degrees. Ball State recorded two shutouts, holding both Akron and Ohio University scoreless.
"I think the defense was huge all over the field," senior defender Sarah Maxwell said. "Last weekend we didn't play as aggressive as we needed to, and this weekend I felt like we did. Our communication was especially better, and everyone put good pressure on the ball."
The Cardinals are now in their final weekend of the MAC season. Ball State will travel to Northern Illinois University on Friday before traveling to Western Michigan University to play the Broncos on Sunday.
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