Final Mid-American Conference Standings
Kent State 5-1
Central Michigan 5-1
Miami 4-2
Ohio 4-2
Longwood 2-4
Ball State 1-5
Missouri State 0-6
The Ball State field hockey team finished its 2014 season on Saturday, losing 6-3 to Miami University to finish in sixth place in the Mid-American Conference.
Overall, inconsistency prevented the Cardinals from a winning record, as the team finished 5-11 overall and 1-5 in conference.
"There were a lot of issues that we have to work out," head coach Beth Maddox said.
After beginning the year with three consecutive wins, the Cardinals dropped their next seven matches, falling four games under .500.
The team appeared to get back on track after consecutive wins against conference opponent Missouri State and then No. 20 ranked Michigan State from the Big 10, but the Cardinals would lose the remainder of their matches.
The most prevalent issue for Ball State was its consistency from match to match, with Maddox citing the team's overall conditioning and the ability to finish strong as additional aspects for the program to improve.
"Fitness was a huge issue for us this season," Maddox said. "We're going to work really hard to fix that."
Five times throughout the season, the Cardinals ended up losing a game in which they were tied or winning.
Despite offensive inconsistency, junior goalkeeper Shelby Henley finished the season nationally ranked 21st in saves per game with 5.73 and 57th with a .657 save percentage.
As the Cardinals look to next year, they will see two seniors, midfielders Tori Widrick and Tarel Teach, graduate.
"We have a good group, it will just be a different team," Maddox said with tears in her eyes. "You can't replace them, but you can still build around what you already have."
Ball State is not eligible to play in the MAC Championship tournament next weekend. In order to be eligible for the postseason, a school must finish as a top four seed in the conference standings.
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