MAC play opens at Louisville
Lynn Wloszek
Goalkeeper Laura Plese has much to prove this weekend as the field hockey team begins MAC play with games at No. 14 Louisville and Miami.
The 1-4 Chippewas play the Cardinals at 4 p.m. today and the RedHawks at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“I try not to get nervous before games,” Plese said. “But I do think there will be some added intensity.”
The senior had not played since Sept. 7 before relieving freshman Danielle Frank Sept. 16 in a 5-2 loss at Michigan State. Plese allowed one goal and made six saves to retake the starting job.
“It was good for Laura to sit out two games, because it tells me she’s ready mentally,” said coach Cristy Freese. “The biggest thing is that Laura was ready to play and played well. She also has a tall presence that will help fill up the cage.”
The last time the Chippewas beat Louisville was 3-1 on Sept. 29, 2000. Louisville has not lost at home to CMU since 1999, in a 3-2 double-overtime game.
“We need to come out strong and confident, knowing that these are the higher-pressure games,” Plese said. “We just want to come out and show Louisville and Miami what we can do.”
The Cardinals are 4-3, and five of their games have been decided by one goal.
“Part of our attitude is we’re going to try to outscore the other team and try to take the pressure off of our defense,” Freese said. “We don’t care about shutouts, we want to put the first goal on the scoreboard. The team that is willing to play for 70 minutes and have confidence for 70 minutes will win the game.”
Freese made some changes to her lineup. Senior Allison Foland will move from back to center mid, and junior Kristy Reed will stay at forward.
“We’ve made some changes, and that is what the pre-MAC schedule allows us to do,” Freese said. “Ali’s very, very good, and she is excellent on offense and defense. She has the defensive ability to shut down the middle, and she has incredible endurance.”
Louisville is confident after a 3-2 double-overtime victory at Ohio State.
“It was a great game,” said Louisville coach Pam Bustin. “We got caught off guard early on, and Ohio State scored first. We kept getting stronger as the game went on, which was good because we won in overtime.”
The Cardinals are 2-2 this season at Trager Stadium. Although the Chippewas have dropped the last five games against Louisville, they hold the all-time series lead, 15-5.
The Chippewas lost at Louisville last season in their MAC opener, and then won five straight games before the Cardinals snapped the winning streak with a 1-0 victory at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
“Last season after we lost at Louisville, we were devastated,” Freese said. “Win or lose, we have to be ready to play on Sunday. We are playing probably the best team in the MAC on Friday, and maybe the worst team on Sunday, but our team has learned a lot from the ups and downs of this season.”
The 1-4 RedHawks did not score a goal last season against CMU, losing 4-0 and 2-0.
“We saw our weaknesses against Michigan State, and we always struggle with teams that carry the ball well,” Freese said. “We can’t let our mistakes hurt us mentally if we want to win two games this weekend.”
