Saturday saw Mid-American conference foes Ball State and Central Michigan square off on the BSU Turf Field at the Brinker Sports Complex.
Ball State lost the contest 5-3, bringing its record down to 2-8 (0-2 MAC).
The game teetered back and forth with waves of momentum crashing on both sides of the field.
The Cardinals struck first nine minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Tori Widrick slapped in her fifth goal of the season off a deflection procured from a penalty-corner, which was drawn by some fancy stick handling by freshman midfielder Bethany Han.
The Chippewas responded just over a minute later with their own goal off of a penalty-corner.
Central Michigan continued controlling the possession for a span and was eventually rewarded by a Ball State own goal off a hard cross from the Chippewas.
Ball State was able to even things up in the 15th minute with a goal by freshman back Natalie Jardell.
Coach Beth Maddox kept to season form and switched goalkeepers at the half, this time from Maddi Elliott to Shelby Henley.
The Cardinals struggled to get anything going in the beginning of the half, going the first eight minutes with no real possession on the Chippewas' side.
In the 44th minute of the match Han was yellow carded, forcing Ball State to compete with only 10 players.
Just 40 seconds later Central Michigan capitalized, and took the lead.
Once the Cardinals were back to full strength they started dominating possession, staying on the Chippewas' side for an extended period of time.
Their effort culminated with an extraordinary long shot from Jardell that found the back of the net in the 62nd minute for her second goal of the match.
But just two minutes later Central Michigan scored on a perfectly executed penalty-corner.
Despite pushing everyone forward Ball State couldn't muster up another goal, and was countered with a breakaway goal to ice the game.
Maddox was disappointed with the cohesiveness of the team.
"We were really disconnected at times, mainly because of fatigue, but that contributed to the momentum shifts."
There weren't really any technical errors that frustrated Maddox though.
"When we stopped talking and split-up we struggled, it was really the theme of the day," Maddox said.
Ball State gets virtually no down time as it faces in-state rival Indiana tomorrow at 1 p.m. at home.
The game plan for the night, according to Maddox, doesn't include much.
"Rest. Rest. Hydrate. Rest"
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