The Ball State University field hockey team was unable to find its groove this weekend and extended its school-record losing streak to 11 games with a pair of 3-1 defeats to Central Michigan University and Miami University at home.
The losses, combined with the Chippewas' two wins, drop the Cardinals into last place in the Mid-American Conference with a 1-12 overall record and a 0-5 MAC mark. Saturday's loss came on senior day, when the Cardinals honored seniors Casey Hunsicker, Jodi Mann and Melanie Pasillas.
Freshman midfielder Devanny Kuhn snapped the Cardinals' 227-minute scoreless stretch Saturday on a penalty stroke with 12 minutes left in the game. Kuhn said she had been practicing penalty strokes before practice twice a week.
"I was shaking," Kuhn said. "I was shaking my hands and my legs to shake out the nerves. But when I got up there and did it I felt a lot better."
Hunsicker provided the goal Sunday after freshman midfielder Caitlin Maguire drew a penalty corner. The goal was Hunsicker's second of the season, coming with nine minutes left in the game. The goal fired the team up, Kuhn said, but came too late in the game for the Cardinals to mount a comeback.
"Casey just gets everyone fired up," Kuhn said. "We were trying to do everything we could. We wanted to score and get another goal on the scoreboard, but it didn't come our way."
Ball State was able to control the final 15 minutes of the game Sunday, coach Annette Payne said, but the team needed to play that way for an entire game.
"That's the team we need to be," Payne said. "That's the team we're capable of being. The bottom line is that's the team that we need to have."
Goalkeeper Tiffany Shifflett had 16 saves, one shy of her career high of 17 against Villanova University last year. She added eight saves against Central Michigan bringing her career total to 243, 34 behind Mindy Pretzman for fifth on Ball State's all-time list.
The Cardinals' undoing against both Central Michigan and Miami was falling behind early. The Chippewas scored three minutes into Saturday's game and added a second goal three minutes later. The RedHawks took the lead 17 minutes into the game on senior forward Courtney Fretz's fourth goal of the season.
"We need to keep working hard," Payne said. "We really need to take ownership of that and change that. Any team will let you score on them if you let them."
The Cardinal attackers often were unable to get solid shots off and both opposing goalkeepers were able to turn their attempts away, she said.
"[Saturday's] a situation where we definitely needed to capitalize on the opportunities we had," Payne said. "Against a team like Central Michigan, who limits your look at the cage, we really needed to capitalize on that."
The team needs to have better communication on the offensive end, Kuhn said.
"We see what we need to work on," Kuhn said. "As a mid I see where my forwards are going. More communication between us would be the best thing. I think we're there - just a little bit more and we'll be there."
Five things to take away1. Saturday's loss set a school record for consecutive losses, and Sunday's loss extended it to 11.
2. Goalkeeper Tiffany Shifflett had 24 saves on the weekend.
3. Devanny Kuhn broke Ball State's 227-minute scoreless streak Saturday.
4. Coach Annette Payne moved defender Maura Sawicki to midfield Sunday.
5. After not having a penalty stroke all season, Ball State had two Saturday.
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