Generally Speaking: Three reasons why Ball State soccer had its best season in team history

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Senior midfielder Lauren Hall placed the ball on the ground. The 629 fans at Briner Sports Complex all knew the fate of the Ball State soccer season relied on this kick. Down 4-3 and on their fifth penalty kick, Hall was the Cardinals last chance to keep their season alive.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, her shoulders rising and falling as she did so.

Now was the moment.

She took several steps forward, planted her left foot, pulled her right leg back and sent the ball flying at Akron goal keeper Annabelle Hegeman. After anticipating the kick going to her right, Hegeman dove, reaching in the direction as she watched the ball fly past her finger tips.

Robby General

The kick missed the goal wide left.

As the visiting Akron fans celebrated the upset victory, Ball State stood still. 

Hall fell to the ground, the season was over.

It was a heartbreaking end to the Cardinals historic season. They were unable to get past the Mid-American Conference quarterfinal match against the now 6-12-2 Zips.

Despite the way the season ended, this was the most successful season in the team’s 17-year history, and here are the top three reasons why.

1. The team finished as regular season MAC Champions for the third time in history.

The only other times the Cardinals won the regular season championship was back in 2006 and 2007.

To say the team dominated the regular season would be an understatement. On the way to becoming regular season conference champions, the Cardinals went 10-1 against MAC opponents while outscoring them 21-6 collectively. Their conference record is the most successful in team history, surpassing the previous two regular season champions

Overall, the Cardinals were 14-3-3. The 14 wins tied for the second most in team history, the 2005 team with one more win. The three losses and eight game win-streak tied for best in team history; seven of the victories coming from conference play.

Ball State didn’t only play well in the underrated MAC. They held their own against big name schools like Indiana University and Louisiana State University, taking both of them into double overtime, which ended in eventual ties.

Not to mention, the team gave up no more than two goals in any match this season and went undefeated at home. (Including the postseason game against Akron since it was technically a tie).

2. This season set numerous new school records. 

It’s clear the team held their own with Cardinal teams of the past, and individual records will be immortalized in the school’s record books for years to come.

Offensively, Abigail Boswell and Chelsey Swackhamer rank among the top-5 goal scorers and top-6 total points, goals per game, and points per game of any other Cardinal. Boswell finished with 10 goals and 20 points, putting her in a three-way tie for second place in scoring and sixth place in points overall. Swackhamer’s nine goals put her in a three-way tie for fifth place in goals for a season and her 21 total points put her at the fifth best in a single Ball State season.

Swackhamer also ranked second all-time with five game-winning goals this year alone.

There’s not enough you can say about sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel. In a single season she finished fifth or better in average goals against, wins, minutes played, and shutouts putting her among the greatest names in Ball State goalkeeper history.

The only reason Heintschel didn't crack the top-10 for saves is because of how well the defense was keeping opposing offenses away from the net.

3. Team depth was strong throughout the year and will stay strong moving forward.

The Cardinals saw goals from 11 different players throughout the course of the season, five of whom scored three or more times.

As a team, Ball State out-shot opponents 370-131, scoring 35 times, which is nearly three times as many goals as they allowed.

They also had a MAC player of the week winner five-times this season, more than any other total in team history.

To expand on the fact, the team will be just as, if not more, successful next season.

Six seniors will graduate this year, but only three of them saw more than 1,000 cumulative minutes this season. The talent remaining is more than capable of leading Ball State to another dominant season and another MAC regular season championship.

This team is scary good, noticeable by looking at the season statistics. Boswell led the Cardinals in goals this season as a freshman. Heintschel shutout opposing teams seven different times and won 14 games as a sophomore. Three returning juniors are Lorina White, Leah Mattingly and Gabby Veldman who are some of the team’s top scorers and two of them are defenders.

Don’t write them off. This team just had the best season in Ball State history, and can do even better next year with the coaching ability of Craig Roberts. He has only improved his record every season since he became the head coach six years ago.

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