After a quick heel flick from freshman forward Hannah Chadick, all a Northern Illinois defender could do was tip the ball in the air, straight to the feet of Sarah Orisich.
The junior midfielder, better known as "nugget" to her teammates, belted a left-footed shot that deflected off a defender and into the goal.
Ball State used clever build-ups like this to blank Northern Illinois 3-0 on Sunday.
"There was a lot more creativity [in the offense today,"] Orisich said. "It wasn't as structured as it usually is. That's kind of what soccer is. It's that creativity that counts. That's how you score goals."
The Cardinals weren't afraid to try cheeky one-touch passes and flicks on to streaking players up the field. Orisich said the team's confidence is starting to blossom after Sunday's win.
"I think we actually settled down and connected better today than we have in the past couple games," she said. "We finally are playing our game, so it felt good."
Orisich wasn't the only one feeling good. Freshmen defender Pavla Benyrova and midfielder Becca Sutton got in on the scoring action in the second half to cement the victory.
Benyrova's goal was her third of the season, while Orisich and Sutton each tallied their first on the year.
A constant barrage of crosses swung in by midfielders like freshman Ellie Chadick and junior Maimee Morris opened up lanes for scorers and eventually broke down the Huskies' defense.
"Maimee had an outstanding game and Ellie was quality on the left hand side getting quality balls in," coach Craig Roberts said. "There was a spell in the first half where I thought it was the best play I've seen [this season]."
Northern Illinois built its attacks well and tested the defense, but Ball State held them scoreless despite the absence of co-captain Brigit Reder.
Freshman Victoria Jacobs replaced her as an interior defender after Reder sustained a slight concussion earlier in the weekend. Roberts said he was very pleased with how Jacobs and the other girls responded on defense.
"I thought the whole defense adapted and stepped up," Roberts said. "But Victoria Jacobs is a quality player. She doesn't look like a freshman out there."
The win evened up Ball State's weekend record after they lost to Western Michigan on Friday, 3-1. The team's record is now 6-4-1 for the season.
What took Ball State over a month to do last year it did on Sunday. This win equals the win total in MAC play from all of last season.
Once the final whistle blew, upperclassmen ran screaming onto the field to embrace the victory. They jumped up for joy and walked off the field in each other's arms.
Two things were clear after watching the Cardinals performance Sunday: the team hasn't forgotten last year, but their dominance of a good Huskies side shows they are truly a different team.
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