The last time Ball State Soccer met Buffalo, they took an easy 5-0 victory on the road. But the time before that, they fell to the Bulls 0-2 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament.
Today, even though each team had great looks, none were able to convert.
“We are creating good chances and I think you walk away from every game and you say, 'Man, we had moments, and it was close,'” Cardinals head coach Josh Rife said. “I'd be more concerned if we weren't creating chances and we are creating chances. You’ve just got to find a way to hit the back of the net.”
The first half contained familiar action from the Cardinals. The team played fast, pressuring off the ball and prohibiting Buffalo's attacks on the wing. Ball States' backline produced, clearing the Bulls from their own box and redirecting the ball up the pitch for Cardinal forwards.
However, nothing more came out of these offensive pushes aside from a few shots on goal and missed opportunities.
In the second half, it was much of the same. The Cardinals looked disjointed and rushed most of their opportunities.
Juniors, forward Delaney Caldwell and midfielder Emily Roper, combined for six shots on the day, with three being on goal, but could not convert. Junior Addie Chester missed a wide-open shot on goal while junior Tori Monaco had a one-on-one opportunity with the Bulls keeper but didn’t score.
“We were looking really solid all together and going into MAC [play], I don’t know what happened,” Roper said.
She said while the team is still creating the same opportunities for itself, they haven't been producing.
Offensively, Ball State has scored once in its last five games after going 22-10 in terms of goals scored during its first seven games on the year. Roper said in order to turn this around, the team has got to use their motivation to move forward.
“We are motivated. Being in eighth [in the MAC conference] means we’re motivated to get to the top six. We’re almost there, but it’s game by game,” she said.
While the scoring has slowed, the Cardinal defense has had to step up — and they have.
On the wing, graduate student Jordan Jeffers has returned to full speed after not playing the first few weeks of the season. Since her return, she’s started the last five games and donned the captain band.
“It’s been a difficult road this season being out in the first few weeks, but I'm happy to be back,” Jeffers said. “My teammates have helped me so much.”
Today, Jeffers led Ball State's defensive efforts, working alongside redshirt sophomore Delaney Ahearn, consistently prohibiting any opportunities for Buffalo to gain an advantage.
Jeffers credits Ahearn's play for helping Ball State stay in the game while she and senior Maya Millis played back to prohibit offensive opportunities from Buffalo.
“‘Del’ plays a huge role on our team, both defensively and offensively. She works her butt off at just getting back and winning the ball. Her press in the attacking half is huge for us” Jeffers said. “... The key for us was just denying opportunities so both me and Maya kind of just held back in line today.”
With six games remaining in the regular season, Ball State sits ninth in terms of MAC standings. Jeffers said that in order for her team to make the tournament, they need to continue focusing on the teams in front of them moving forward.
“We focus a lot on on the team we're playing and just trying to shut down what they're good at. We always have a game plan going in,” she said. “... Hopefully, we get on a roll and things will start clicking.”
Rife agreed and said finishing on their countless opportunities boil down to “confidence” and “a little luck.”
He said while draws are better than losses, and that shutouts are not a bad thing, his team's performance in its next game against Central Michigan Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., will say a lot.
“Great teams don't give up a lot of goals and so we've really been able to get better on that, which is really important. Again, yes, at some point we need to get on a run here … but if I wasn’t confident, I wouldn't be coaching. We have the talent that we need in that locker room to be successful, we’re going to just have to stay at it,” Rife said.
Contact Trinity Rea via email at trinity.rea@bsu.edu or on X @thetrinityrea.
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