Field hockey hosts Kent State today
Greg Burghardt
When the Golden Flashes visit Kelly/Shorts Stadium today, the Chippewas would like to change that.
Kent State is 8-2, 2-1 in the MAC and is enjoying the highest NCAA ranking in school history at No. 7.
The Golden Flashes have a balanced offensive attack this season, with six players scoring more than two goals.
“The key to beating Kent State is not shutting one player down, it’s shutting the whole team down,” said Head Coach Cristy Freese. “They are playing very, very well right now and it will be a good game for us.”
Tess Meuleman is leading the Golden Flashes with seven goals this season. As a team, Kent State has scored 25 goals, while allowing 16.
Senior backer Maria Neiswender said a strong defensive game is imperative to win.
“We have to be strong as a whole defensive unit,” she said. “We know anyone can score from any position on their team and we just need to play our game and not theirs.”
Freese believes the team is ready for Kent State.
“The players know the challenge that is before them, and they like it,” she said. “We need to elevate our entire game.”
The Chippewas began making improvements in their coverage during the Miami game and are confident they will continue to do so.
“We need to keep stepping up and intercepting more passes,” Freese said. “We can't let them carry the ball into the circle because once they get in the circle, they are capable of scoring from anywhere.”
Individual players realize the task at hand and would like nothing more than to knock off a nationally ranked conference opponent.
“We need to win in the 70 minutes of regular time,” Neiswender said. “To get respect, we have to beat Kent. To get ranked in the Top 20, we have to beat Kent. Nothing else is acceptable. Nothing.”
The match starts at 2 p.m.
Head Coach Cristy Freese’s Ohio pregame speech proved true. The Chippewas dominated Ohio 3-1, moving to 9-4 on the year and 3-1 in the MAC.
“We are Central Michigan field hockey, and we are good, you take that out on the field with you,” she said in the locker room. “You take confidence out to the field because you are good. We are going to do whatever it takes to win the game.”
Katie Coccia scored 8:53 into the game and the Chippewas never looked back. CMU outshot the Bobcats 11-4.
Ohio looked to keep it close, scoring 6:55 into the second half, but Allison Foland scored a more than five minutes later.
“If we would have lost this game, it would have been really hard going into the Kent game believing we could win,” Freese said. “I thought that this was our best game of the year. We dominated the game.”
Junior Katie Coccia assisted on Kristy Reed’s team high eighth goal to close out the scoring.
“Both Kristy Reed and Jocelyn Gates played well,” Freese said. “They did great pressuring Ohio’s backs into mistakes.”
Reed tallied her first assist on the season and recognizes the Chippewas good play.
“We played well today, but it has no effect on how we need to play tomorrow,” said Kristy Reed. “We need to play very well against Kent.”
The Chippewas defense was solid and held MAC points leader Elizabeth Unger to only one shot. Keeper Janel Spero gave up one goal on four shots for CMU.
CMU’s ball pressure paid off in offensive opportunities.
“We did a good job pressuring the ball, and our offense stepped up,” said Jocelyn Gates. “We came back to the ball instead of waiting for it to come to us.”
The Chippewas game with Kent State begins at 2 p.m. at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
