A CMU home game?
Lynn Wloszek
The only sounds that have been heard coming from the fields are that of occasional practices and the grounds crew — no cheers, no casual conversations while cheering for the Chippewas — nothing.
This changes today at 4 p.m. when the soccer team hosts rival Western.
It has been a long September for the CMU fall sports teams, as all of the teams have been on the road for more than three weeks.
The last home game a CMU team participated in was field hockey’s 4-0 loss to Michigan State Sept. 10. They are in the latter part of a seven-game road trip that doesn’t end until CMU hosts Ohio on Oct. 10. It is a tough stretch right now, but the Chippewas do get the advantage of having six home games in a row toward the end of the season.
The volleyball team won’t see a home crowd in September; the Chippewas hosted Marquette Aug. 31 and will host Akron Oct. 4.
The soccer team ends the homeless drought by hosting two games this weekend — two key MAC games. These games are just what the team needs after tying the last three.
The road can be a good place, though. In my experiences, dealing with coaches, they like having a small road stretch early in the season to help their team become a unit, but with most of our teams, more than a month is too much.
While CMU athletic teams really aren’t struggling right now, home games should allow the Chippewas to compete for MAC Championships in the upcoming months, so getting the long away trips early in the season could be a good thing.
It will all depend on how everything plays out in the end.
For now, get outside and attend the soccer games on Friday and Sunday, and when all the other teams come home again, cheer for them.
They probably don’t remember what a home crowd sounds like.
Life Sports Editor Adam Trumble can be reached for comment at sports@cm-life.com.
