Chippewas fall out of title contention
Before weekend games against Kent State and Ohio the field hockey team was in contention for a Mid-American Conference title.
Now it needs a miracle with only four MAC games left.
CMU lost 4-2 at Ohio Saturday and 5-3 at KSU Friday. The losses drop the team to 6-7 overall and 3-3 in the MAC. It is 0-5 on the road this season.
“The two losses this weekend takes the MAC regular season championship out of our hands,” said coach Cristy Freese. “We will have to win games and hope for some things to happen if we want a shot at the championship.”
The team had outshot and tallied more offensive penalty corners than its opponents this season, but it could not do it this weekend.
Ohio’s Torrie Albini scored first to give OU a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats added two more goals for a 3-0 lead at halftime.
CMU scored its first goal 53 minutes into the game when freshman Kelly Jordan scored off a rebound. The goal was Jordan’s sixth on the season.
Up Next
- CMU hosts Michigan State Thursday at 4 p.m.
But the Bobcat lead was too much to overcome.
“Ohio really dominated the first 15 minutes of the game,” Freese said. “We made adjustments at halftime and came out and played a good second half, but one half of good play doesn’t get it done.
“We have to be more consistent; defensively we didn’t play up to our potential and we missed a few great scoring opportunities in the second half.”
Goalkeeper Danielle Frank allowed four goals and recorded 11 saves in the loss. Senior Erica Takach had her team- leading 10th assist in the game.
Kent State was scoreless in MAC games before it scored five against CMU Friday.
It also was KSU’s first win of the season.
Freshman Samantha Sandham scored on a penalty corner for the first goal of the game.
But the Golden Flashes answered with consecutive goals, taking a 2-1 lead. CMU tied the game at 2-2 when senior Alisa Folk netted her sixth goal of the season, but KSU added another goal to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.
It was a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
KSU’s Britt Van Pelt scored two consecutive goals within two minutes, putting the contest out of reach.
“Kent State was the best MAC team that we faced this year,” Takach said. “That team has a lot of talent, but was off to a slow start. We happen to catch them when it all came together and they proved they weren’t an 0-11 team. KSU is really good offensively and we didn’t play together at all defensively, which is why we allowed five goals.”
The team hosts Michigan State Thursday.
