A 0-5 start to the season seems like it was a season ago for the Ball State University soccer team. Coach Michael Lovett said it was a season ago.
Ball State won its second consecutive match, a 4-0 win Friday afternoon against Lipscomb University.
"We restarted our season when we played our first home match," Lovett said. "As far as we are concerned, we are 2-0 and undefeated. We have the momentum going into conference."
The match was the last non-conference game of the season for the Cardinals, and it was their strongest performance of the season, Lovett said.
The Cardinals went on the offensive attack from the beginning, holding the ball in Bison territory for most of the half. Junior Missy Gordon had a shot from outside the 18-yard-box that hit off the crossbar and went back into play in the 21st minute. Two minutes later, Gordon sent a cross into the box that was misplayed by the Lipscomb goalkeeper and tapped in for a goal by senior Patti Hoeg.
The score remained 1-0 for the remainder of the first half, even with the Cardinals 7-1 shot advantage. In the second half, Ball State scored three goals.
Junior Jacki Eft had a shot hit off the crossbar similar to Gordon's in the first half. Junior Kristina Anderson put in the Cardinals' second goal of the match off a direct corner kick in the 67th minute of the match.
"I was just trying to put the ball in for someone to make a play on it," Anderson said. "I didn't mean to score, it was just luck."
In the 78th minute, Anderson again sent a corner kick into the 6-yard box, this time finding sophomore Tina Vannatta, who headed the ball into the back of the net to put the Cardinals up 3-0. To seal the victory, freshman Paige Stroinski recorded her second goal of the season on a shot from 15-yards out to give the Cardinals the final goal of the match.
The shutout victory was Ball State's first of the season and was a goal Lovett said he set for his team. "We finished as well as we started [Friday]," Lovett said. "For us to get the shutout [Friday] gets us on the right track. We are playing are best soccer right now."
Ball State out-shot Lipscomb 23-2 and had 8-3 advantage on corner kicks.
Ball State is back in action Sept. 25 to open Mid-American Conference play at Kent State University.
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