Anna Pryde has been with the Ball State field hockey team since the beginning of the season. ‘
But on Friday afternoon, she was finally “with” the team.
The freshman from Paengaroa, New Zealand became eligible today for play in Ball State’s home opener against Robert Morris, a 1-0 loss.
“It feels good,” Pryde said of finally being able to play.
Even while ineligible, Pryde couldn't travel to road matches with the team, so Friday was the first time she had even seen the team play a match.
“It was difficult for me to get onto the field and figure out what they’re doing and where I’m fitting into
it,” Pryde said.
Robert Morris controlled the match from basically the start of the match. Ball State was only able to get three shots on goal throughout the match – compared to 12 by Robert Morris.
She played a little over 10 minutes throughout the match at forward.
“Let’s be honest, the forwards weren’t getting much work,” Pryde said.
It was the last time she had played a real match – a non-practice match – in two months.
Ball State gave up double the shots it attempted throughout the match – Robert Morris outshot Ball
State 20-10.
Starting goalkeeper Shelby Henley recorded 11 saves in the match, but gave up the one go-ahead goal.
Leading Ball State in shots was freshman Bryce Barnes with four.
“We work very hard during the week and we train. We train well,” Pryde said. “We got onto the field
and a lot of it was nerves, a lot of it was that this was our first actual home game. We really wanted to play well. But we didn’t really click as a team.”
Coach Beth Maddox declined to comment after the match.
