Field hockey team ranked 20th
Lynn Wloszek
The holdout is over after the Chippewas defeated No. 7 Kent State and now are ranked No. 20. It is the first time the CMU field hockey team has been ranked in Head Coach Cristy Freese’s tenure. The Chippewas climbed as high as No. 24 earlier in the season.
“I think it is exciting and it’s a goal you always have,” Freese said. “The reason why it’s especially exciting this year is because this is such a great team to coach.”
Four of the six teams in the MAC are ranked. Louisville and Ball State are ranked at No. 9 and No. 24 respectively, while Kent State dropped to No. 13.
“Since we have never really been in the rankings, we had to do something extra special to get in,” Freese said. “A lot of the coaches may not have voted for us because they don’t really know how we have been doing.”
Freese wants to make sure her team maintains its play for the rest of the season.
“It’s only October and it doesn’t mean as much until November,” Freese said. “We need to maintain and improve on where we are right now.”
After losing to unranked CMU, Kent State remained in the Top 15. Freese believes part of that is because of their reputation.
“Kent has been ranked the last few years, so they are known for that across the nation,” Freese said. “I think that the rankings should reward teams that have a good record and haven’t lost to unranked teams.”
CMU has won three consecutive and five of its last six games. For the first time since 1997 the team has10 wins. The Chippewas have the 11th best winning percentage in the nation at .714.
The Chippewas next game is 2 p.m. Friday against Northwestern at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
