SLIDESHOW: Women’s soccer faces wild weather, beats Buffalo 3-0

The women’s soccer team won its 37th consecutive home game 3-0 against Buffalo Sunday in a game where there were more puddles than players on the field.

“I’ve never seen anything like the weather we had today, either as a player or a coach,” head coach Neil Stafford said.

The rain and wind started off slow, much like the pace of the game, with no shots or fouls recorded within the first ten minutes of the game. But as the game went on, the conditions worsened, and the pace picked up offensively for Central Michigan.

Junior midfielder Kaely Schlosser got CMU started by getting four of the team’s first five shots, two of which were on net. The Chippewas continued to pile on shots, out–shooting the Bulls 12-1 in the first half.

The puddles started to accumulate at the start of the second half, which made playing conditions much worse.

The Chippewas capitalized on a break in the weather with a goal by senior midfielder Autumn Hawkins inside the 18-yard box with a sliding left kick ten minutes into the half.

Rain and wind made their way back into the game and caused severe problems for both teams.

“In the second half, the puddles on the field were the biggest problem,” Hawkins said. “Passes would just stop, so we had to compensate and try to over hit the ball, but the wind also made it hard.”

Despite the troubles, CMU maintained control of the game, playing almost all of the second half in Buffalos’ territory. With twenty minutes left in the half, the Chippewas added an insurance goal by freshman forward Danielle Rotheram.

CMU put the game out of reach with a third goal by junior forward Jennifer Gassman with eight minutes left. The Chippewas maintained control the entire game, out–shooting Buffalo 23–2.

“I’m so happy with the way our team has dealt with adversity the past week,” Stafford said. “Going back to the Northern Illinois game and being down a man and still out–shooting the other team and today with these weather situations; we stepped up our game.”

The Chippewas have won six of their last seven games and will ride the momentum into another home game at 4:30 p.m. Friday against the Mid–American Conference East leader Miami (Ohio).