OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University soccer team put up a strong battle in cold and very blustery conditions against Ball State in its season finale on Thursday, but the Cardinals were able to score with 33 seconds remaining in the second overtime to capture the victory. The RedHawks finish the season 4-13-1 overall and 3-7-1 in the Mid-American Conference. Ball State is 15-4 overall and 9-2 in the MAC.
The first scoring opportunity belonged to Miami as
Kennedy Gray stepped inside the 18 and fired a shot that Tristan Stuteville got a hand on. The rebound stayed alive in the box, but subsequent attempts by
Elle Gill and
Soph Spinell were blocked in the fourth minute of play.
Ball State started to string some attack together, but ultimately fired its shots wide of the target. Each team had its chances with the ball and in the 32nd minute those opportunities paid off for the RedHawks as
Keara Kerr slid the ball down the right flank to
Soph Spinell, who lofted a cross to the far side that
Kristina DeMarco reached at the high point and headed home for her second goal of the season to make it 1-0.
That lead was short lived, however, as Ball State knotted it up 15 seconds later as Nicky Potts gathered a ball in the box and slipped a turnaround shot inside the left post to leave it 1-1. BSU had a slight (10-7) lead in shots while the teams ended the half all square at 1-1.
As the weather continued to erode the playing conditions, offensive opportunities were much harder to come by at both ends in the second half. The RedHawks got a few corner kick tries that didn't generate much and each club fired three shots over the first 37 minutes of the final regulation frame. The Red and White took another try to lead to a corner kick, but nothing came of it as the teams played on into overtime.
Neither team had great chances to win in the first overtime. During the second overtime, in the 106th minute DeMarco got the ball deep in the right side of the 18-yard box, but her shot deflected off the crossbar. In the 110th minute with 33 seconds remaining before the game would finish in a tie, Sammie Corcoran took the pass to the left of the box from Tatiana Mason and was able to plug it in the left side to give Ball State a 2-1 victory.
The Cardinals finished with a 26-13 shot advantage. DeMarco led the RedHawks with three shots.
