Field hockey crushed by Northwestern Sunday, 6–0
The field hockey team was outscored 10–2 in back–to–back losses in Evanston, Ill. to Indiana Saturday and Northwestern Sunday.
“Both of these Big Ten teams have some really solid players on defense,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “We have to go to the area the defense gives us instead of trying to force it.”
Northwestern’s Chelsea Armstrong, one of the top–five scorers in the country, unleashed the first two goals of the game off penalty corners in the 16th and 20th minutes to lead the Wildcats to a 6-0 victory over CMU Sunday.
“They’re very strong,” Freese said. “(They have) a couple really good scorers, and I thought overall they played a really good game.”
The game was halted with 12:55 left because of a tornado warning with Northwestern leading 3-0.
After the delay, Caroline Troncelliti added two goals in the 59th minute for NU. Mary Susan Bro added one more with 22 seconds left in the game.
“We stayed focused, and we were ready to go out and play again,” Freese said. “Northwestern came back and maybe picked up the pace of the game. They’re not going to have mercy on us.”
Simone Lazar returned after missing Saturday’s game with a foot injury against a team she called "fast-paced." She played for 65 minutes.
“We just have to learn from our mistakes and practice at a game pace,” Lazar said. “I think if we do that, we will be able to compete with the (Mid-American Conference) teams this weekend.”
Saturday
The field hockey team allowed Indiana to score three goals on four shots on net in the second half Saturday to lose 4-2 in Evanston, Ill.
The Hoosiers used penalty corners to tie the game in the 52nd minute and take a 3-2 lead three minutes later.
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.
“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.”
In the first half, it was CMU that made the most of its 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 in 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.”
The Chippewas play at the CMU Field Hockey Complex for the rest of the regular season, starting with Ohio Friday and Michigan State Sunday.
The team hosts Kent State and Michigan in the last weekend of the season.
