Friday's Scoreboard
Ball State 6, Eastern Illinois 0
Charlotte 1, Akron 0
Kent State 0, Cleveland State 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Ball State 6, Eastern Illinois 0
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – Led by a hat trick from sophomore Grace Alsop, the Ball State University soccer team dominated Eastern Illinois University, 6-0, to give new head coach Josh Rife his first win and usher in the 2019 season.
"These girls have worked so hard and fought through all the changes in the program this offseason, so I couldn't be happier for them than I am right now," Rife said. "They certainly deserved this tonight. I'll take a 1-0 win any day, but we will also take six goals any time we can get them. We created great chances and it was a great win."
The Cardinals wasted little time on offense as Alsop found the back of the net from the top of the box in the 17th minute after a perfect pass from Kerrigan Johnson. Ball State kept the pressure on for the remainder of the half and broke through again in the 33rd minute when Claudia Como and Sam Kambol teamed up to serve a perfect ball to 2018 MAC Freshman of the Year Tatiana Mason, who scored to give BSU a 2-0 lead. That score sent both teams into the locker room for halftime.
Just 32 seconds into the second half, Alsop scored her second goal of the day from a difficult angle, being nearly parallel to the goal on the left side. Mason was credited with an assist on the play. Not 10 minutes later, Julia Elvbo struck a ball into the back of the net off a beautiful feed from Yela Ziswiler to put BSU up 4-0.
The pressure continued as the Cardinals kept the ball in their attacking half for the majority of the match. In the 69th minute, Ball State earned a corner which Johnson sent to the back post. Lexy Smith, in her Cardinal debut, headed the ball across goal where Alsop was waiting to head in her third goal of the match and complete the first Ball State hat trick since 2011. Later, in the 81st minute, Tatiana Hawkins-Dabney scored the first goal of her career in her Ball State debut to complete the 6-0 victory when she went far post from the top left corner of the box.
As a team, Ball State compiled 19 shots, nine of which were on goal. The Cardinal defense held the Panthers to five total shots on the night, and Tristin Stuteville, who earned the shutout, saved the lone shot on goal she faced. Ball State's offense forced six corner kicks while the defense conceded just three. The six-point margin of victory was the largest over a Division I opponent since the year 2000 when Ball State took down Youngstown State by a score of 11-1. Friday was also the first time BSU scored six goals in a single match since 2005 in a 6-1 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
Seven Cardinals, including Smith, Como and Hawkins-Dabney made their respective Ball State debuts on Friday. Freshmen Sam Musick and Tiffani Torres as well as transfers Lizzie Philibin and Andrea Rabanales also saw action in the victory.
Ball State is afforded little time to celebrate its dominant performance as Big East foe Marquette makes the journey to Muncie on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET with the match being broadcast live on BallStateSports.com/watch and 102.9 FM/1340 AM. The Golden Eagles lost their opener, 2-0, at Colorado State earlier in the week. Admission to the match at the Briner Sports Complex is free.
Charlotte 1, Akron 0
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio– After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, the Akron women's soccer team dominated possession in the second stanza of its 2019 season opener against UNC Charlotte, but the Zips could not find the back of the net as the 49er's held on for the victory at FirstEnergy Stadium Friday night.
In the final 45 minutes of play, Akron outshot Charlotte, 5-4, including 2-to-1 in shots on goal.
For the Zips offense, redshirt sophomore Aislinn Meany (Ennis, Ireland) held a team-high two shots with one coming on frame, while junior Annamarie Alfery (Cheswick, Pa.), sophomore Hailey Clere(Clay, Ohio), and freshman Lucia Lobato (Galway, Ireland) all registered a shot in the match.
In the goal, freshman Vanessa Berlin (Gau-Odernheim, Germany) made her first collegiate start for the Zips, made one save, and allowed one goal in 45 minutes of action. In the second half, freshman Libby Harper (Hatfield, England) earned the nod between the pipes and chipped in a clean sheet in the second half with one save.
Seven Zips made their Akron debuts against Charlotte, including Meany, Berlin, Lobato, Harper, junior Anya Donelan (Warrington, England), Bailee Bowers (Dublin, Ohio), and Emily Clopp (Canonsburg, Pa.)
At the 54:40 mark of the contest, Lobato nearly netted the equalizer from 25 yards out, however, her strike hit off the crossbar and landed on top of the net for a Charlotte goalkick.
Alfery, a former defender making the transition to forward, had an opportunity to square the game at one apiece at the 71:03 mark. From 10-yards out and just inside the right side of the box, Alfery went upper 90's to the right side but was denied by the 49er's keeper.
With time winding down and Akron running out of opportunities, Clere took advantage of open spacing and sent a shot from 20 yards out that narrowly sailed high and right of the net.
As the final minute ticked away, the Zips got forward put pressure in its offensive third for the entire 60 seconds but was unable to register a shot in an attempt to send the game into overtime as Charlotte walked away with the victory.
Akron returns to the pitch in two days as the Zips travel 30 minutes north up I-77 for a contest against Cleveland State. First touch between Akron and the Vikings at Krenzler field is scheduled for 1 p.m. You can catch all the action of the contest on ESPN3.
Kent State 0, Cleveland State 0
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State soccer team (0-0-1) ended its first game of the season with a scoreless tie after two overtime periods against Cleveland State (0-0-1) at Dix Stadium on Friday night.
The Golden Flashes had chances to score, but couldn't put the ball into the net. Junior Cameron Shedenhelm had an opportunity in the 62nd minute as she streaked down the right side of the goal, but her attempt was just wide of the post. Junior Vital Kats had another great chance in the 69th minute when her shot ricocheted off the crossbar.
"I think the final product was missing a little bit tonight for us," said Kent State head coach Rob Marinaro. "But I'm really proud of the team, it was a hard-fought game and you have to give Cleveland State a lot of credit. It was a 110-minute battle and we saw some things that we can improve on."
KSU controlled possession for the majority of the match and out shot the Vikings, 21-6, and placed 11 shots on target.
Each team attempted five corner kicks. Kats led the Flashes with eight shots, while junior Maddie Holmes placed five on target.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Faith O'Neill registered two saves for the Golden Flashes in the clean sheet. Vikings keeper Stevie Holbrook faced pressure all evening and responded making 11 saves.
Kent State is on the road for its next match when it travels to Boulder to take on Colorado on Thursday, Aug. 29th at 6:30 p.m. EST / 4:30 p.m. MST.
