Four-Goal Outburst Leads Field Hockey Past Ball State

Sunday, September 20

Muncie, Ind.

12 PM

Michigan State University

(4-4)

Ball State

(2-5)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Michigan St.	0	2	0	2	4
Ball St.	0	1	0	0	1

Ellie Kendall hits the ball at Ralph Young Field

Photo by: Evan Peacock

9/20/2026 3:40:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. — Michigan State field hockey bounced back in dominant fashion on Sunday afternoon, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 4-1 non-conference road victory over Ball State at the Briner Sports Complex.

With the win, MSU levels its overall record at 4-4, while the Cardinals slide to 2-5 on the season.

Michigan State controlled the pace throughout the contest, generating an 18-6 advantage in total shots, a 13-5 edge in shots on goal, and a 10-2 margin in penalty corners.

Sophomore midfielder Ellie Kendall and junior midfielder Lilian Knorr each contributed their second goals of the season, while sophomore forward Ella Mckernan and freshman forward Clare Arvai tallied their first career collegiate goals in the contest. Senior forward Bianca Pizano, junior midfielder Carmen Maudlin and Kendall each collected assists on Sunday. Junior goalkeeper Lola Munoz de Verger earned the win in goal, making a pair of saves between the second and fourth quarters. Sophomore Catherine Wolf made the start in goal, earning two saves in scoreless first and third quarters.

Following a scoreless opening period in which Ball State made an early save on Knorr and Pizano went wide on a penalty stroke, Michigan State broke through early in the second frame. In the 16th minute, Pizano set up Kendall, who buried the game's opening goal. MSU quickly doubled its cushion less than two minutes later when Maudlin slipped a pass to McKernan, who finished for her first career goal.

Following McKernan's goal, Ball State answered just 18 seconds later to trim Michigan State's lead to 2-1 heading into the halftime break. The Cardinals looked to have tied the game at 2-2 right before halftime, but a successful challenge by the Spartans negated the potential tying goal.

After a tightly contested third period that saw Wolf turn aside a Cardinal shot to keep MSU in front, the Spartan attack erupted for two insurance goals in the final fourth. In the 51st minute, Arvai pounced on a loose rebound following a saved strike from Pizano and slotted home an unassisted goal to stretch the Michigan State lead to 3-1.

MSU put the game out of reach in the 58th minute off a penalty corner insertion from Knorr. Kendall received the entry and fed it back to Knorr, who drilled a shot into the back of the cage for her second goal of the campaign to seal the 4-1 road triumph.

UP NEXT
Michigan State resumes Big Ten play on Friday, September 25, traveling to Evanston, Illinois to face the No. 1-ranked Northwestern Wildcats at 4:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on B1G+.