Central won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Hockey Association Championship to become one of 16 teams invited to the National Championship Tournament in Rochester, N.Y.

But Central finished 0-2-1 in the tournament with its best game coming against Colorado State in a 6-6 tie. CMU finished in 15th place overall.

The team looks to reverse last year’s disappointing finish at 9 p.m. Friday against Northern Illinois at the Ice Arena, 5165 E. Remus Rd. It also plays NIU at 4 p.m. Saturday.

“(This team looks) dangerous,” said head coach Alex Wiesenberger. “(We look) really, really good.”

CMU returns several of its players from last season, including seniors Steve Myers, Evan Crawford, captain Craig Lipar and sophomore Marty Lipar.

But the team lost its leading scorer, who transferred to Michigan State and graduated seniors Greg Martin and Tim Martilla.

CMU has worked to recruit more players to its team by visiting potential player’s homes and talking to friends and family to try to persuade them to come to Mount Pleasant.

“We have a heavy schedule ahead of us,” Wiesenberger said. “Our first real test comes against Florida Gulf Coast.”

The team hosts Florida Gulf Coast Oct. 6-7. Other key games include a home-and-away against Michigan State. It gets a chance for revenge against Colorado State on Feb. 2.

“Last year we beat the teams that we were supposed to beat, but lost against the ones that we were supposed to lose to,” Craig Lipar said. “We need to win in big games against big teams ... (last year) we didn’t perform against them.”

He said Central’s depth will help it win the big games it needs to.

“We don’t need to rely on one line for scoring, we can put four lines out there and be confident in them,” Craig Lipar said.

Staff reporter Dave Jones

Women’s club lacrosse hosts tournament

The women’s club lacrosse team has not hosted a tournament since winning the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League Championship last season.

It will get its first chance Saturday when it hosts the CMU Midwest Fall Ball Classic at the intramural fields. CMU hosts Albion at 10:30 a.m., Western at noon and Purdue at 3 p.m.

“We are the defending champions of the league and have the same goal of winning the championship this year too,” head coach Adam Wojciechowski said. “Saturday will be our first chance to defend the title and prove ourselves this season.”

Albion College, Grand Valley State, Calvin College, Purdue and rival Western Michigan also will compete in the tournament.

CMU finished an impressive 12-3 last year in just the team’s second season.

Central went undefeated in the WCLL Class B playoffs in Toledo, Ohio last April.

“We just hope people come out to watch. It’s such a fun sport that many people don’t know about,” said club president Heather Dimmer. “We love this sport and hope to turn more students onto it as well.”

Central defeated Bowling Green 11-10, then beat St. Mary’s College 9-7 and eventually went on to defeat Western 11-10 in the finals last season to win the league championship. Central scored 167 goals and allowed just 113 on the season.

Staff reporter Scott Goliver