Takach: Team lacked urgency
A blowout loss to Ball State Saturday left senior midfielder Erica Takach questioning the field hockey team’s effort.
Takach said the Chippewas did not play with the sense of urgency they needed.
“Half of the team gave up,” she said. “We need to play hard and not give up. We didn’t lose as a team.”
Now, the Chippewas are relegated to a spoiler role for the final weekend of the regular season.
CMU entered last weekend with a 3-3 record in the Mid-American Conference, trailing Kent State, Ohio and Miami.
The Chippewas avenged an earlier loss to the RedHawks Friday with a 2-1 overtime win and appeared to be headed for a weekend sweep. However, Ball State used five second-half goals to dash CMU’s MAC title hopes.
Coach Cristy Freese is looking for her team to forget about the loss to the Cardinals and have a strong finish to the regular season against the top two teams in the MAC.
“We’re still shooting for two wins,” Freese said. “This weekend we’re working on being the spoiler and getting a high seed (for the MAC tournament).”
CMU (7-10, 4-4 in the MAC) will host Kent State (6-12, 6-2) at 2 p.m. Friday and Ohio (8-9, 6-3) at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Chippewas can still tie the Golden Flashes for first place, but would need to win out and have Kent State lose its remaining two games.
Takach said the team had an intense practice Monday. Freese agreed and said the Chippewas have already moved on following the Ball State loss.
“We had a good practice today,” Freese said. “We put the loss behind us.”
Notes: Takach has been selected to play in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association North/South Senior All-Star Game Nov. 19 at Louisville, Ky.
Takach, who will be on the North team, leads the team in assists with 11 and is second with 17 points.
“It’s definitely an honor,” she said. “To play against some of the top players in the country will be a great opportunity.”
