The Ball State soccer team will have an unfamiliar challenge Friday when it plays Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Coming off their first loss of the season to Illinois last weekend, the Cardinals will have to show they can rebound from defeat.
Up against a confident SIUE opponent, Ball State will look to copy what Illinois did to them five days ago.
SIUE comes into the game undefeated, sitting at 2-0 on the season. With two shutouts, the team looks to continue its home dominance, where it has outshot opponents 36-12.
"The loss against Illinois last week taught us what its like to lose, and no one wants to feel that again," Ables said. "I think we can come out and win not only this game, but take the next five."
Recent history pulls both for and against Ball State.
Last season, the Cardinals dropped consecutive games nine times. Their overall record after defeats was 2-9-1.
But after the best start since 2005, people have found out already this is not the same team as 2009.
"We're a whole new team, and we play like a family out there," sophomore midfielder Alyssa Ables said. "It won't happen again like last year, and it won't be a problem."
This is the second time the Cardinals and Cougars have matched up against each other. Ball State beat SIUE last season 3-2.
With a fairly easy schedule, starting the season 8-1 is a realistic goal for Ball State. Illinois showed the Cardinals what they have to do to improve. Now they must go out and prove it.
"We need to just build on what we've done so far," Ball State coach Craig Roberts said. "We are addressing our defensive areas that were exposed and need to continue our offensive threat that we showed we can do."
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