Within one weekend, the Ball State University field hockey team found a way to match its season win total from the 2008 season by racking up back-to-back wins.Ball State began its weekend by defeating Davidson College 2-1 on Saturday in North Carolina.
This is the second straight year that Ball State has defeated Davidson, a win that last season counted for one of Ball State's two wins.
"We played very well," coach Annette Payne said. "We achieved our goals, which was good."
Ball State started its season opener by taking six shots in the first period and finished the game with 10 shots.
The Cardinals scoring was powered by senior Brooke MacGillivary and junior Hannah Jones, who each had one goal.
Soon after MacGillivary scored the first goal of the contest, Davidson bounced back scoring a goal of its own less than a minute later.
Ball State fired four more shots in the first 16 minutes of the second half, leading to Hannah Jones' third career score at the 46:18 mark, which ended up being the game-winning goal.
"It was a team effort goal," Jones said. "I was just at the right place at the right time."
Payne said she wants her team to start the season aggressive on offense.
"We definitely wanted to be aggressive and come out shooting," Payne said. "Our shots were a result of a full-team effort and the way we fielded the ball was a product of that."
Senior Tiffany Shifflett recorded five saves in the win.
In its second game Ball State defeated Appalachian State University 4-1 on Sunday.
"It is definitely important for our momentum into the next weekend to be successful," Payne said. "It means a lot for the team, and I'm very excited and proud of them."
Once again Ball State was lead in scoring by MacGillivary and Jones, who each scored two goals.
Ball State had 20 shots in the first half, while Appalachian State managed three. The Cardinals ended with 29 shots on goal compared to eight for the Mountaineers.
Jones scored the first goal of the game off an assist by junior Kaitlan Mitchell at the 5:43 mark. Four minutes later Jones tallied a second goal making the score 2-0 going into the half.
"Our main focus was to come out and not worry about any other team and play our style of hockey," Jones said.
MacGillivary had no problem keeping the scoring going by connecting with the back of the net on her first shot attempt in the second half at the 38:05 mark. She matched Jones in the game by scoring once again at the 46:37 mark.
"We brought intensity, we determined how the game went," MacGillivary said. "We stepped it up and took control of the game."
Kelly Allaband of Appalachian State scored the Mountaineers first goal with six minutes remaining in the game.
Shifflett collected another five saves, putting her past a milestone of 279 saves, which puts her fifth all-time at Ball State. The senior passed Mindy Pretzman who played during the 1991-1994 seasons.
Payne said there are always things for her team to improve on, and they need to carry that to the next weekend.
"We played good hockey this weekend and we've got a couple days to get ready for another weekend," Payne said. "Every weekend we need to learn and grow from each game."
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