Murray State
Ball State
Soccer Opens 2011 Season At WKU Tournament
8/18/2011 1:23:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Friday - 5:00 p.m.
Murray State (0-0) vs. Ball State (0-0)
WKU Soccer Field - Bowling Green, Ky.
Live Stats
Sunday - Noon
Murray State (0-0) vs. Western Carolina (0-0)
WKU Soccer Field - Bowling Green, Ky.
Live Stats
Murray State soccer opens up 2011 regular season action this weekend, traveling to Bowling Green, Ky., to participate in the Western Kentucky Tournament against Ball State and Western Carolina.
Racers head coach Beth Acreman returns eight players from last year's team, including top returning scorers Sophie Hargreaves (six goals) and Shauna Wicker (three goals). The 12 newcomers to this year's squad feature nine freshmen and a sophomore, junior and senior transfer.
MSU got its first taste of competition last weekend, dropping a 2-1 decision at UT Chattanooga before picking up a 5-0 win against Bethel in a pair of exhibition games.
“I was really happy that we scheduled two pre-season games and not just one,” said Acreman. “Saturday against Chattanooga was definitely a wake-up call for everybody of the level of intensity we needed to be playing with. Coming into play Bethel at home was something we really needed. Putting five goals into the back of the net is great for any team. We still have some things to work on, but I was really happy to see them twice.”
Friday's match against Ball State is the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Cardinals winning 6-1 in the Racers inaugural season in 2000. They finished at 7-10-2 last season, splitting a pair of games against OVC teams as they defeated Southeast Missouri and lost against SIU Edwardsville. Leading scorer Sarah Orisich returns and goalkeeper Aubrey Buehler started 10 of 19 games, earning a 5-6-1 record with a 1.47 goals against average.
MSU returns to action Sunday afternoon in its first ever meeting against Western Carolina. The Catamounts, a member of the Southern Conference, finished the 2010 season 5-10-4. Hey return leading scorer Christine Kaznowski, a six goal scorer in her freshman season, but will be looking for a replacement in goal after starting keeper Caitlin Williams is gone after starting all 19 games last season.
