Team knocked out of MAC Tournament with 6-0 loss
A second consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament championship wasn’t meant to be for the field hockey team.
Central lost 6-0 to No. 5 seed Kent State Thursday in the MAC Tournament in Athens, Ohio, ending its season with a record of 11-10 overall and 6-4 in the MAC.
Last season, the Chippewas ran the table to win the MAC tournament in Mount Pleasant.
Seniors Alicia Balanesi, Cortney Blanchard, Erin Dottery and Danielle Frank played their final game for the Chippewas on Thursday.
“It’s disappointing the way we lost,” said coach Cristy Freese. “To lose 6-0 is hard to swallow.”
Natalie Barrett scored the first goal of the match in the 10th minute with her shot from the top of the circle to give Kent State (7-14, 4-7 MAC) the lead.
KSU kept the pressure on, scoring another goal three minutes later off a penalty corner.
“It was about our attitude and how we responded to it,” Balanesi said of trailing 2-0. “We didn’t respond.”
Anna McComb tipped in the third goal to give the Golden Flashes a 3-0 lead.
“After the second or third goal, I think our kids started to panic a bit,” Freese said.
Kent State’s Kate Perry added another goal to make the score 4-0 at halftime.
Freese said she used the 10-minute halftime to calm down the team and regroup.
Central played better in the second half and managed to have some good scoring opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize.
“We were looking for that first goal to fire us up,” Freese said. “We never got it.”
Three of the four shots in the second half by the Chippewas sailed just wide of the goal.
“They were good shots,” Balanesi said. “They would just miss to the right, left or be right at the goalie. It was frustrating.”
This was the fourth time this season that CMU was shut out. The six goals were the second-most given up in a game this season.
Perry scored her second goal of the match off a penalty stroke and Barrett scored her second goal to end the scoring.
