Oct. 26, 2006

Box Score

2006 MAC Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
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MUNCIE, Ind. - Playing its final regular-season game, the Miami University women's soccer team (7-9-2; 4-5-2 MAC) fell to the Ball State Cardinals, 4-2, Thursday afternoon at BSU Soccer Field. Despite the loss, Miami earned a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the third straight year and the seventh time in program history.

Needing a win or tie to guarantee a spot in the conference tournament, Miami still advanced to the postseason with the loss by virtue of Kent State's 3-0 win over Buffalo and Ohio's 2-0 victory over Akron. Miami enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed after Northern Illinois' 3-0 win over Western Michigan secured the No. 7 seed for the Huskies. The RedHawks quarterfinal game will be a rematch of their final regular-season game, as they travel back to Muncie to face top-seeded Ball State Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.

After shutting out four of its past six opponents, Miami allowed four goals for the first time this season as the MAC's top offensive team scored a pair of goals in each half. Ball State tallied two goals in the game's first 13 minutes and added a pair of second-half scores in the 55th and 62nd minutes, respectively.

Sarah Maxwell put Ball State on the board first at 5:44, and Vandi Ogden made it a two-goal lead at 12:03. Lindsay Martin assisted on both goals, each coming off corner kicks.

Senior forward Kathleen Vistica (Monrovia, Md.) cut Miami's deficit to 2-1 less than three minutes later with her team-leading ninth goal of the season at 14:21. Off a corner kick, both senior Katie Boyd (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore Allison Berkey (Hopkinton, Mass.) earned assists on Vistica's goal. It was Boyd's fifth assist of the season and Berkey's third helper of the year.

Ball State added a pair of goals by Annie Aiello at 54:30 and Emily Rein at 61:09, effectively putting the game out of reach. Berkey tallied her second goal of the season at 66:31 off freshman Jodi Zwingelberg's (Elgin, Ill.) fourth assist of the season, but Miami could not close the gap any further.

Ball State has won four straight against Miami dating back to 2002 and leads the all-time series 4-3-1. The defeat also dropped Miami's 2006 conference road record to 1-3-1.

Miami's 4-2 loss to Ball State was Bobby Kramig's 500th career game as head coach with the Red and White. Kramig coached the Miami men's soccer team from 1983-98 before taking over as the women's head coach in 1997.

In addition to No. 1 Ball State versus No. 8 Miami, the MAC Tournament pairings are as follows: No. 2 Ohio versus No. 7 Northern Illinois, No. 3 Central Michigan versus No. 6 Kent State and No. 4 Bowling Green versus No. 5 Toledo. All matches are hosted by the higher seed and kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday. A complete tournament bracket can be found by clicking the link at the top of the page.

GAME NOTES: SR Kathleen Vistca has scored a point in four straight games, notching three goals and two assists ... SO Allison Berkey had her first career three-point game against Ball State, figuring in on a goal and an assist ... Despite finishing the season with a sub-.500 MAC record, Miami still advanced to its third straight MAC Tournament ... Miami holds a 12-2-1 all-time record in the MAC Tournament and a 5-1 mark in the quarterfinals ... Miami's 12 MAC Tournament wins are the most of any school in the conference. Bowling Green is second with 11 ... Miami will travel to Ball State for its first-round match as the No. 8 seed. Miami is 1-2-1 all-time in road games in the MAC Tournament and is making its first appearance in the tournament as the No. 8 seed.

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