Ball State Field Hockey (0-7, 0-1 MAC) fell to the Miami Redhawks (4-4, 1-0 MAC) by a score of 0-4 in their return home.
“Obviously we wanted to secure a MAC win on our home turf, so it’s disappointing,” Head coach Stephanie Bernthal said. “People stepped up, covered for each other. We really had a strong defensive effort. We have to convert on the attacking side of the ball, we will continue to work on that.”
Both teams had strong starts. The Cardinals stretched the field with long passes and spent time in Redhawks territory but could not keep up with the Redhawks’ offensive attack. Despite an impressive showing of sophomore goaltender Grace Chavez’s hustle, the Redhawks were dominate in Cardinals territory in the first half, where they had 15 shots (12 on goal) and 10 corner shots. The Redhawks would build a 3-0 lead at the end of the first half
The second half followed the same narrative from the first. After allowing four straight penalty corner shots to the Redhawks to wrap-up the first, the Cardinals responded with three straight corner shots of their own to open the second half, but could not connect on any of the attempts. Paula Portugal scored her second goal of the game to increase the Redhawks lead to four, from another penalty shot halfway through the second.
While the Cardinals would fall to the Redhawks, 4-0, the team still found positives in the loss. The team only allowed seven shot attempts and six corners from the Redhawks. The Cardinals answered back with six shots and five corners, but the most telling stat is the zero in the scoring column.
“We played as a team and that has been something we have wanted to do since the season started,” Sophomore forward Audrey Tabor said. “There’s been ups and downs, and this game was 100% up for us. We need to play faster from the backfield up, and that will give us an opportunity to put the ball in the cage.”
The loss was the first home game for the Cardinals since Aug. 26 against Indiana. The Cardinals will take the week off before facing University of California Davis on Sept. 24 at home.
Contact Gavin Crafton with any comments at gncrafton@bsu.edu or on Twitter @GavinCrafton.
Read More
Ball State extends win streak at home over MAC rival behind stellar performance from a freshman standout
By Daniel Kehn / 7 hours agoBall State continues winning streak with sweep of Western Michigan
Rain and possible snow
14 hours agoForecaster Megan Thompson is keeping a look out for a rainy and possibly snowy next week.
Ball State’s campus experiences second power outage in two weeks due to a squirrel
By Staff Reports / 16 hours agoAt approximately 9:27 a.m. Nov. 15, the Ball State Daily News received reports of Ball State’s campus losing power.
