MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State soccer team polished off a perfect opening weekend Sunday with another impressive second-half performance in a 3-0 win over Green Bay.

The Cardinals scored all three goals after halftime at the Briner Sports Complex to improve to 2-0 on the season. Green Bay dropped to 0-1-1 with the loss.

Freshman Kelsey Wendlandt, junior Victoria Jacobs and sophomore Erin Greeley accounted for the Ball State goals, while freshman Brooke Dennis was between the posts for her first career shutout. The goals for Wendlandt and Greeley were the first of their collegiate careers.

The Cardinals broke out offensively in the second half for the second straight game. They scored two second-half goals in Friday’s opener against Northern Iowa and have now out-scored their opponents 5-0 after halftime through two games.

“The girls came out very strong in the second half,” Ball State coach Craig Roberts said. “In the first half, we had some problems with Green Bay’s direct style of play. We knew they would be direct, but we didn’t know they would be that direct.

“It was a good test for us. We weathered the storm well. We were able to regroup at the half and pick out one or two areas where we felt we could exploit them, and the girls did that in the second half.”

Wendlandt came off the bench to provide a spark early in the half, immediately applying pressure with a pair of left-footed shots that helped to get the Cardinals going. She finally got one to find the net in the 62nd minute when Kalynn Flanagan raced up the left side and crossed a pass to her just in front of Green Bay keeper Nastacia Behle, whom she beat for the opening goal.

Ball State added its second tally less than two minutes later. Michelle Blok took a corner kick and sent a directional pass backwards to Cailey Starck, who fired a ball into the box. Kelsey Shapiro got to the ball and flicked it on to Jacobs, who was there to put in the left side of the net.

Greeley then added another insurance goal in the 73rd minute. Jenna Finke crossed a ball from the top left corner of the box and found a slashing Greeley at the front right corner of the goal to give the Cardinals a three-goal advantage.

Defensively, Ball State posted its first shutout of the year courtesy of a strong effort from Dennis and the back line. Starting defenders Starck, Shapiro and Jacobs played the entire 90 minutes, creating problems for the Green Bay attack.

Dennis saved all four shots on goal she faced and also came out of the net to play numerous crosses and passes that threatened the goal.

Ball State will return to action Friday with a 5 p.m. road contest at IPFW. The Cardinals’ next home game is set for Sept. 6 against Eastern Illinois.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Men's NCAA Tournament First Round Recap

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Boys

Midwest High School Roundup - Nov.