Sept. 22, 2012

Final Stats

With the help of two goals from junior Hillary Lawless, the conference opener was a successful one for the Missouri State field hockey team, as the Bears (3-5) opened Mid-American Conference play with a 4-2 win over Ball State in front of 504 fans on Saturday in Muncie, Ind.

"We are very happy with today's performance," head coach Gabby Gomez Sosa said. "Our offense came out really strong, and we stayed organized in the backfield.

"This is exactly how we wanted to start conference play."

Freshman midfielder/forward Olivia Nicotera got the Bears on the board at the 21:28 mark of the first half. The goal was the third of the season for Nicotera, as the native of Fredericksburg, Va. scored off an assist from freshman midfielder Charlie Redhead.

However, Ball State evened the score at one about 12 minutes later when Jenna Rosenberry's shot got past Missouri State goalkeeper Katie Mulloy.

The 1-1 tie held until the 4:26 mark of the second half when MSU senior defender Reiann Stoute put the Bears back on top with an unassisted goal, her second of the year. Stoute also excelled in the backfield by picking up a pair of defensive saves.

About four minutes later, Lawless took over. The forward extended the MSU lead to 3-1 when she found the back of the cage off an assist from freshman forward Holly Scherer.

After a goal from Ball State's Tori Widrick cut the Missouri State lead to 3-2, Lawless knocked in her second goal of the day at the 58:42 mark to give the Bears a 4-2 lead, which proved to be the final margin.

For the game, Missouri State took 20 shots, a season-high total.

Missouri State will take a one-game break from conference play on Sunday when they play the Ohio State Buckeyes at 11 a.m. in Columbus, Ohio.