With the presentation of flowers to forward Sarah Leibel, the senior day ceremony ended for the Ball State University soccer team. Leibel then ended the senior day game with a game-winning goal in overtime Sunday.
Leibel scored her fourth goal of the season with 4:44 left in overtime to defeat the University of Toledo (11-4-1, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) 1-0 and extend Ball State's (10-4-1, 7-0-1 MAC) lead in the MAC.
"It was huge to be able to pull out a win on senior day," Leibel said. "I was glad to do it but I was more happy that we got the win."
The Cardinals also defeated Bowling Green State University Friday 3-2 in double overtime.
With less than two minutes left in the second overtime, junior Emily Rein scored her second goal of the game as she broke away from two defenders and beat the Falcons' goalkeeper.
Coach Michelle Salmon said the team's work ethic and psychological preparedness gave the Cardinals the edge and helped lead to the wins.
"We feel like when we go into the overtime, the edge goes to us," she said. "There's no one who's outworked us."
The win against Bowling Green showed the team's resilience, Salmon said. She said she is excited about the team's chances to win the MAC but it is still focusing on one game at a time.
"We're starting to get better," Salmon said. "We went through a lull where we were kind of just hanging and now we're starting to break away again."
While the Cardinals' offense began to break away against the Falcons, their defense allowed a MAC opponent to score for the first time this season Friday.
Nearly 10 minutes into the game, Bowling Green broke Ball State's shutout streak of 664 minutes. The streak came to an end at seven games overall and six in the MAC, both Ball State records and second in MAC history.
Though Ball State lost its shutout streak, goalkeeper Rachael Murphy recorded her eighth shutout of the year in the win against Toledo. The shutouts are a career high for Murphy and ties her for third in Ball State history with Megan Swafford who had eight in 2001. Alison Becker holds the record with nine in 2004 and 2005.
With the wins this weekend, Ball State owns a four point lead in the conference with three games remaining. Wins count as three points and ties count as one point.
The Cardinals have secured at least a first round home game in the MAC tournament. They also control their own destiny, as they need two wins to secure their second consecutive MAC title and home field advantage in the conference tournament.
"It's been in our control since the beginning and we've kept it that way and that's how we like it," Rein said.
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