With seven minutes and 20 seconds remaining in double overtime between Ball State and Michigan State field hockey, 17 Cardinals stood in a row on the sidelines and watched their seven teammates prepare for a Spartan corner shot.
The 1-1 match was on the line, as victory belonged to the first team to score in overtime rules. Ball State’s 17 bench players leaned forward and yelled words of encouragement to their teammates.
On the Michigan State side, players stood mostly silent, perhaps waiting with baited breath. Then came the 17th penalty corner shot of the match, and freshman midfielder Lilan Knorr found the back of the cage to give the Spartans a 2-1 win.
Michigan State’s bench broke their stances and rushed the pitch to celebrate. All 24 Cardinals stood still in shock.
After a 3-0 loss to Miami (OH) Friday, head coach Caitlin Walsh challenged Ball State to come with more energy against the Spartans.
“They just wanted it more than us,” Walsh said Friday. “Energy-wise, we could have been a little bit more consistent … Today was a little bit of a setback, but I don't think it's anything we can’t bounce back from.”
Despite the fifth-straight loss Sunday, Walsh said the Cardinals took her challenge to heart.
“Even in the locker room to warmups, from quarter one to quarter four, I felt like the energy was super high today,” Walsh said Sunday. “ … When you feel that energy around you, you want to play for yourself and your teammates.”
Junior midfielder/forward Grace Clokie was one of the 17 standing in support of her teammates during overtime. Through the first eight matches of the 2024 season, Clokie has started six of them, but she only saw five starts during her sophomore campaign.
Clokie not only knows the importance of willing her teammates on from the sidelines, but she also knows how much it makes an impact on her play while the Cardinals do the same for her.
“I always try, when I’m on the bench, to scream as loud as I can,” Clokie said Sunday. “I know when I’m on the field and I hear my teammates on the bench it really motivates me to keep pushing.”
The West Vancouver, Canada, native may not have started against Michigan State, but she made the biggest impact on Ball State’s offense. Clokie checked into the match within the first five minutes of play, and before 10 minutes ticked off the clock she scored for the first time this season.
The goal came off the Cardinals’ only corner shot of the game, one that didn’t exactly go to plan, but junior Emma van Hal adjusted and found Clokie for the assist and score.
“Luckily I was there, and I got it in,” Clokie said Sunday. “It’s exhilarating. Everyone on this team is so supportive, and they lift you up. I’m just so grateful to have them as teammates.”
The Cardinals held their 1-0 lead with a strong defense until freshman back Caro Shafer scored the Spartans’ first goal of the match with less than three minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime. Against Miami and Michigan State, Ball State allowed a combined 44 shots compared to only earning six.
Even with two losses by a combined score of 5-1, graduate student goalkeeper Hannah Johnston compiled 22 saves for a weekend save percentage of 81.3. However, Walsh is still disappointed in Ball State’s overall approach on both ends of the pitch when it comes to corner shots. This weekend, the Cardinals allowed 25 corners and only earned two.
“We were digging ourselves a little bit of a hole putting ourselves in that kind of a position,” Walsh said Sunday. “That’s unacceptable how many defensive corners we gave up today … That being said though, it is pretty impressive to only allow two goals.”
The Cardinal's 3-0 defeat against Miami Friday marked the 17th straight loss to the RedHawks (5-5, 2-1 MAC), and after Sunday’s downfall to Michigan State, Ball State now sits at 1-7 in 2024. Even if Walsh isn’t pleased with the Cardinals’ overall record, she is more concerned with improving from an early 0-2 record in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
Ball State will have a chance to right those wrongs Friday when Longwood comes to Muncie for a MAC matchup at Noon. Clokie believes that leading for the first 57 minutes of play against a BigTen opponent like the Spartans is enough to build off of a disappointing weekend.
“Honestly, it’s a positive,” Clokie said Sunday. “We held that game. We were up on that team for the majority of the game. Having that same energy and positivity throughout other games will be good.”
Contact Kyle Smedley via email at kmsmedley213@gmail.com or via X @KyleSmedley_.
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