It’s been a successful weekend for senior midfielder/forward Julia Elvbo.
After assisting sophomore midfielder/forward Tatiana Mason’s game-winning goal in Friday’s 1-0 victory at Akron, Elvbo lifted Ball State (9-3, 3-1 MAC) over Buffalo (4-6-1, 1-3 MAC) in double overtime Sunday, securing a 3-2 win for the Cardinals.
As one of five seniors on this year’s team, in addition to graduate student goalkeeper Tristen Stuteville, head coach Josh Rife said he is impressed with Elvbo’s tireless dedication on the field.
“I’m happy to see [Elvbo] reach some of the rewards of her extra work,” Rife said. “It’s a great example for the rest of our team.”
With the win, Ball State swept its two-game Mid-American Conference road trip. The Cardinals are now on a three-game win streak.
“Especially in the second game of the weekend, it’s really important to have depth,” Rife said. “I think we can keep applying some of that sustained pressure on teams.”
Sunday’s win was a tale of two halves through the first 90 minutes. The Cardinals got off to a quick start in the first half as senior forward Sam Kambol opened the scoring at 17:07. Ball State took a 2-0 lead into halftime as sophomore defender Lizzie Philbin recorded her first goal of the season at 37:35.
“We started out well, which has been one of our big goals,” Rife said. “Credit to the ladies that we came out strong and battled well. The wind makes it a little difficult to get out of your own end, so we had to sustain a little bit of pressure.”
Both teams push and shove in front of the goal as the ball is kicked into play Thursday, Aug. 28, 2019 at Briner Sports Complex. Ball State Woman's soccer team defeated lllinois State University 1-0. Rebecca Slezak, DN
The Bulls responded to their two-goal deficit early in the second half. Leah Wengender scored her first career goal at the collegiate level to put the Bulls on the board at 46:48. Buffalo followed it up with a goal from Kaitlyn Walsh to tie the game at two at 67:23.
Neither team was able to find the net for the rest of regulation time. Buffalo entered overtime with a 14-10 shot advantage, but it was a Cardinal goal that made the difference as Elvbo broke through at the 108:10 mark for a Ball State win.
As the Cardinals have been off to a successful start this month, Rife said he hopes to take advantage of every opportunity in MAC play going forward.
“At the end of the day, a win is a win,” Rife said. “I don’t think there’s a good win or a bad win. They’re all good, and they’re all wins. We need to be able to celebrate them all because it’s part of what we’ve been doing.”
The Cardinals will return home Thursday, Oct. 10 against Northern Illinois at 4 p.m.
Contact Connor Smith with any comments at cnsmith@bsu.edu or on Twitter @cnsmithbsu.
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