Field hockey opens tourney with Ball State
The field hockey team begins the 2008 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a familiar opponent.
CMU will face the Cardinals for the second time in six days at 11 a.m. Thursday in Kent, Ohio.
Despite a 2-0 loss to Michigan State to end the season, senior Samantha Sandham feels confident about heading into the opening round.
"Leaving things the way we did against Michigan State, I think we really came together as a team," she said. "If we can continue that play through the MAC, we will be able to do some good things."
Central ended the Cardinals' season one year ago, defeating them 1-0 in the first round of the MAC Tournament.
The Chippewas won both games against BSU during the regular season and looks to make it 3-0 with a win to advance.
"We are pretty confident," Sandham said. "We have beaten them twice now and that gives us confidence. We also know that they are capable of playing a good game. Both games against them weren't easy and we need our best game tomorrow."
The first meeting, Oct. 11, between the two teams was a 3-1 CMU win in Muncie, Ind., in which Amanda Lucik scored two goals. The second matchup also saw a CMU player notch two goals, this time off the stick of Kim Erasmus. CMU won that game 4-2 on Saturday.
The team picked up a great deal of confidence coming off a game in which Freese said was its best as a team against MSU.
"If we put together another game like the one at Michigan State, I like our chances against anyone in the conference," she said. "That is what we need to do is put together out best game of the season."
The Chippewas gained respect from other teams around the MAC by winning a game against four of the five teams. The only team the Chippewas failed to defeat is Kent State, who is the number one seed in the tournament.
"We have had success against everyone except Kent," Freese said. "We aren't playing Kent, though we have Ball State and we need to get through Ball State to see Kent. We know we didn't play well against Kent the last time we played them. We just need to play well and we will be fine."
Last season, CMU lost in the semifinal, 3-0, to eventual champion, Ohio. Ohio was ranked No. 16 in the country.
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