Central Michigan University
Ball State
Soccer Downs Ball State in Overtime, 1-0
10/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 7, 2005
MOUNT PLEASANT - On a cold and windy afternoon at the CMU Soccer Complex, the Central Michigan University women's soccer team battled a tough Ball State squad and the elements and came away with a 1-0 win in overtime to move to 4-0-1 in the Mid-American Conference and get back to the .500 mark overall at 5-5-2. Laura Roberts scored the winning goal in the final minute of the first overtime period. Anne Decker made three saves, including a sensational stop of a point-blank shot by the Cardinals just moments before Roberts' goal, to record her second consecutive shutout. Ball State suffered just its third loss of the season, falling to 10-3-0 overall and 3-2-0 in loop action.
"This is a great win for us," head coach Tony DiTucci said. "Ball State is a quality opponent, and they battled us hard all day. We showed a tremendous amount of heart to get this win. We've had different players step up for us throughout the season, and today it was Laura Roberts and Anne Decker who were outstanding for us."
Roberts' goal was set up by stellar play at midfield and crisp passing from Sarah Burns and then Alison Heydorn. After Burns corralled a loose ball off a scramble in the midfield, she gathered the ball and flicked a pass to Heydorn, who took a couple of dribbles before firing a low, skidding ball that split two Cardinal defenders and went right to the feet of Roberts, who had a step on the Ball State defender. Roberts rifled a shot past Ball State keeper Alison Becker into the top of the net for the penultimate goal.
"That was textbook in terms of how to play and attack going into the wind," DiTucci said. "We were able to keep the ball on the ground and limit the defender's chance to make a play on the ball. What that did was allow Laura to make a play on the ball in a scoring position, and she finished that opportunity to get us the win."
CMU remains two points behind archrival Western Michigan in the MAC standings, because the Broncos won at Buffalo on Friday to move to 5-0-0 in the league. Following their thrilling win over the Cardinals, it will be important for the Chippewas to remember that there's another match to be played this weekend.
"This was a big win, but we've got more work to do this weekend," DiTucci said. "We need to put this behind us and get ready for Miami on Sunday because we need those three points as much as we needed these three points. Every game is critical for us if we want to achieve our goal and win the conference title."
Sunday's match against Miami wraps up a four-match homestand for CMU. It begins at 1 p.m. at the CMU Soccer Complex.
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