Freese hopes for field hockey to improve on penalty corners during MAC play
There is a scenario in field hockey that elicits the most scoring opportunities.
It is dubbed the penalty corner.
It has been awarded fewer times to the Central Michigan field hockey team than it has to its opponents in six of seven games this season.
“We get too close to the ball,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “With that being said, you can’t be too far ahead. It’s a fine line.”
Freese hopes to improve in this area of the game in the future, with Central Michigan’s first conference game Friday against Miami (Ohio), followed by Iowa Sunday at home.
Freese said another reason the stat is skewed in the other team’s favor is the strength of the schedule.
“Considering the quality of opponent, I think we’re doing well, but I expect us to do better,” Freese said. “I knew as soon as I made it, it was a challenge, but I also thought we had a better team that could handle it. And in that way, we have handled it. We’ve been competitive.”
The Chippewas are 3-4, their best start entering the conference schedule since 2006, when they began 5-3.
Freese had the team working on not giving the offense a chance at penalty corners at the end of Tuesday’s practice. The motivation involved running if the offense did get an opportunity.
In most penalty corners, the stick stopper receives the ball from a player in the corner, sets up the ball in front of the team’s scorer, and then a shot is taken.
Skylar VanNatta stick stops on offense and has a pivotal role on the defensive side of the penalty corner, charging at the player that takes the shot to block it.
“She’s not only the veteran left back,” Freese said. “She flies on penalty corner. That’s the scariest defensive position. So we miss a lot when we don’t have her in the game.”
She was absent for the Villanova game this season with an undisclosed injury. In the game, two goals were scored following penalty corners.
VanNatta said she wished she could have played but she learned from the unique vantage point of the sideline and is continuing to improve her play.
“Just eliminating some of those small mistakes that could mean the game,” VanNatta said. “If I can get my flying down and block most of the shots, then that takes the pressure off the goalie and the rest of the defense.”
CMU has won or lost every game this season by a lone score.
“One-goal losses are hard when you think of the one goal you could have stopped,” VanNatta said. “It’s just small moments where there’s just a lapse in the defense.”
