Central opens against No. 18 Syracuse
The field hockey team will start the season with two games against tough opponents.
The team hosts No. 18-ranked Syracuse at 3 p.m. today at the CMU Field Hockey Complex, and will travel to Ann Arbor to compete against Stanford at 10 a.m. Sunday on neutral ground.
The team is working hard and is anxious to get out and compete against some top-notch talent.
"They have been practicing for over three weeks so I certainly think that the players and the coaching staff are ready to play games," said coach Cristy Freese. "They need to get out there and play against somebody else, that'll be important for us."
Senior Moyra Betuzzi said CMU is familiar with the Orange's style.
"We have played Syracuse before and we have kept up to them, so we just need to play a 70-minute game, not a 20 or 30 minute game," Betuzzi said. "I think that we are pretty confident going into this big game, playing a team before gives you that little extra boost of confidence."
CMU hung tough last season with Syracuse, who was ranked No. 20 at the time. The team fell just short of a win, losing 4-3 on the road.
"We are used to playing top-ranked teams," said Freese. "Syracuse has played two games and this is our opener, so they will have that advantage over us."
Syracuse shut out No. 8 Old Dominion 5-0 and also blanked Colgate 12-0, giving the team a 2-0 record.
Coach Freese thinks that both Syracuse and Stanford are good teams that will give the team good tests to start the season.
"Both opponents we play will challenge us defensively," Freese said. "They both have very good offensive teams and one of our challenges will be to see how our defense works together."
By starting eight upperclassmen out of the starting 11, Freese feels that last year's weakness has turned into this year's strength.
"I think that right now we feel our strength certainly is in our upperclassmen," Freese said. "The weakness last year was we didn't have any starting seniors. When you can put seniors out there that know what they are doing and can help the younger players, that is key."
Last season, CMU finished with a 5-13 record and are projected to earn fourth place in the Mid-American Conference according to the MAC poll. However, players like Betuzzi disagree with the poll.
"We should be one or two, if we are anything lower I will be pretty disappointed," Betuzzi said. "We should be up there."
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