Amid a weather delay, two injured players and double overtime, Ball State found a way to beat Indiana 2-1 on Sunday at the BSU Turf Field.
The Cardinals won the eventful game when senior forward Ellen Vonderbrink tapped in the winning goal off a pass from junior midfielder Gretchen Lulow on a penalty corner.
The goal was her first of the season and first game-winning goal of her field hockey career, according to her father, Phil Vonderbrink.
"We all did it together," Vonderbrink said after the game.
Lulow distributed the credit for the victory.
"It was a total team effort today," Lulow said. "Everyone really stepped up today."
The win required a comeback by Ball State after Indiana opened up scoring with a goal by Morgan Fleetwood in the 45th minute.
With less than 10 minutes left, junior forward Kristen Falk dribbled the ball to the front of the Indiana goal and scored from five yards out to tie the game.
The two teams then had to endure a weather delay with less than four minutes left in regulation due to lightning.
Though the Cardinals won the game, two key players were injured. Junior forward Brittany Hammer was hit in the head in the first half, and junior midfielder Devanny Kuhn left the game in the second half after ripping open her right pinky finger at the tip. Kuhn is the Cardinals' leading scorer and has the second most goals in the Mid-American Conference.
Neither Hammer nor Kuhn returned to the game Sunday.
"They both are seeing the doctor [Sunday]," coach Beth Maddox said. "Once we find out what is going on and what we need to do, then we will be able to kind of adjust our lineup and change things. But I think the rest of the girls are ready to step up, so I think they proved that [Sunday]."
After the game, a red card was issued to Hoosiers' coach Amy Robertson. Indiana will play its last regular season game against Michigan without Robertson.
Ball State, meanwhile, will hit the road Wednesday for a 3 p.m. game at Ohio State.
If Kuhn and Hammer aren't able to play, Maddox said her team will still be able to play the way they need to.
"We have a huge week coming up. We have Ohio State on Wednesday, we have Miami on Friday and we have Central [Michigan] on Sunday," Maddox said, "We don't have a lot of time to prepare, so they needed to see that they could do it."
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