FIeld hockey lets first half lead slip, falls to Indiana 4-2
The field hockey team allowed Indiana to score three goals on four shots on net in the second half to lose 4-2 Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
“The first half, we did a very good job of really being disciplined defensively,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “Maybe the second half we lost a little bit of that.”
The Hoosiers used penalty corners to tie the game in the 52nd minute and took a 3-2 lead three minutes later.
Freese said the struggles at penalty corner were because Indiana flourishes in that area and junior Simone Lazar, a key component on the penalty corner, was out with a sore foot.
Junior Abby Roth was in and out of practice this week with an injury, so she did not start for the second time this season, which also hurt CMU, Freese said.
Immediately after the Chippewas lost the lead for the first time in the game, they called a timeout. But it did not do them any good. They allowed another goal in the 60th minute.
In the first half, it was CMU that made the most of their scoring chances.
The Chippewas used two shots on goal in the first half to take a 2-1 lead going into the break.
Junior Bailey McKeon had the first goal of the game in the 10th minute, scoring her second goal in her last two games.
“Up to that point, we were really pushing the ball,” McKeon said. “From there, we really played well as a team. Actually, I thought we were going to come out with a win in that one because we played very well in the first half.”
Sophomore Cayleigh Immelman added a goal in the 25th minute to retake the lead, after Indiana scored four minutes prior.
The Hoosiers had nine shots on goal for the game, and CMU had three. Freese said the differential was a result of the Hoosiers defending the circle well, especially in the second half.
“We penetrated; it wasn’t that we weren’t down there,” Freese said. “I think (Indiana) did a better job of not allowing us the same things they were given us in the first half.”
It was announced Friday that the game would be moved from 4 p.m. to 2 p.m. as a result of the weather but CMU did not dodge the rain and wind, though that was fine with the team.
“We don’t like playing in the rain, but I guess it gets us more pumped up,” McKeon said. “It’s another challenge to get through.”
The Chippewas stay in Evanston to play another Big Ten school in Northwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday.
