MUNCIE, Ind. – The Miami soccer team dug itself out of an early 2-0 deficit, but a 91st minute goal by Ball State sent the RedHawks to a 3-2 overtime setback on Thursday.
The Cardinals (12-3-2, 8-2-1 Mid-American) came out firing, recording the first seven shots of the contest. BSU took just 6:19 to find the back of the net as Julia Elvbo converted on a corner kick to put MU (3-14-1, 1-10 MAC) down 1-0. Sam Kambol bumped the lead to 2-0 in the 29th minute after receiving a pass to the top of the box and scoring.
With time winding down in the opening frame, the RedHawks got some life from the hustle of
Lyda Bogdanovitch. The freshman won a foot race with Tristan Stuteville to a loose ball before tapping it into the net for her sixth goal of the season with 9:22 left in the opening frame. That score held at the break.
With renewed life thanks to the late first-half goal, Miami continued to press for an equalizer. After putting up just three first-half shots, the RedHawks fired eight in the second half. A Cardinal foul gave the Red & White a set piece chance midway through the frame and that paid off with
Olivia Winnett elevating a
Jordan King free kick service over the goalkeeper to even it up at 2-2 in the 68th minute.
"We fought really well to get back into the game," head coach
Courtney Sirmans said. "I felt we had the majority of the momentum for the game. That was the most complete effort I saw from the team, so I was pleased with that as we head into next year. It was also nice to see us score a couple gritty goals. Lyda pressed the keeper and outbattled her to poke it into the net. Jordan served one in and Olivia won another battle with the keeper for it.
The Cardinals put together some pressure at the other end with Elvbo nearly putting them back in front on a shot that ended up going off the cross bar. BSU put together a flurry of shots with under seven minutes to go, but
Lauren Parker kept them out and the MU defense withstood the barrage as the teams played on into overtime.
Overtime lasted just 39 seconds as Tatiana Mason found the bottom right corner of her goal to give BSU the victory. The Cardinals outshot the RedHawks, 22-11, while holding an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks. Parker finished with six saves for Miami while Stuteville stopped four shots.
The RedHawks enter the offseason graduating four seniors and with a roster that saw 13 freshmen on the roster gain experience this season.
