Change in guard
Senior Alisa Folk changed positions to help a struggling offense for the field hockey team Saturday.
It worked and the team won 3-2 against Ball State.
Folk was playing mid-field, but moved up to her natural forward position.
“I just feel a lot more comfortable being a forward,” Folk said. “(Playing forward) you have more to take it down the field versus mid-field you are playing more defense.”
Coach Cristy Freese said Folk actually helped the defense.
“What she did for us was to come up defensively, and she was able to stop them out of their end and create some opportunities,” she said. “That is going to create a lot of competition in the forward position.”
The Chippewas shook off its offensive woes, quickly scoring just 1:29 the game. Sophomore Allyson Doan came up with a loose ball and slammed it into the cage. Junior Alicia Balanesi had the assist.
CMU scored again when Samantha Sandham goal near the end of the first half. The freshman stuffed it home after CMU players launched four shots toward the goal.
BSU got on the board with a goal by Lindsay Quay with 1:20 left in the half to cut CMU’s lead to one.
But CMU scored early in the half again, when freshman Amanda Lucik scored her first goal of the season. Balanesi picked up her third assist of the game.
BSU’s Amanda Pavone scored late in the game to end the scoring.
A win was important for CMU after its 2-1 overtime loss to Miami Friday.
CMU outplayed and outshot the RedHawks, but could not come out on top.
“I wanted to see how the team responded to the loss,” Freese said. “It’s easy to come back excited when you win a game, but I wanted to see how mentally tough we are when we lose.”
Miami’s Courtney Fretz scored a game-winning goal with 41 seconds left in overtime.
CMU dominated the game, but its offense sputtered.
The Chippewas outshot the RedHawks 29-11 and held the advantage on penalty corners 16-8.
“We were lucky to stay in the game today,” said Miami coach Jill Reeve. Sandham scored her second goal of the season for CMU with 23:45 left in the first period. Senior Erica Takach assisted.
The Chippewas controlled the game until three minutes remaining when Miami’s Elisbeth Gilroy scored to tie the game off a penalty corner.
