Field hockey hosts first game Saturday
After finishing its longest road trip since 2003, the field hockey team will play its second Mid-American Conference game in front of a home crowd.
The team will play Ball State at 1 p.m. Saturday and Miami at 2 p.m. Sunday.
“I think our kids are always excited to play on our home field in front of our home crowd,” coach Cristy Freese said. “The atmosphere will be nice around campus because there is also the MAC opener for the football team, so it will be nice.”
Both teams are among the top in the MAC in offense. Miami is tied for first in the conference in scoring with 20 goals this season. Ball State ranks fourth with 13 goals.
“In my mind, we are playing two of the best offensive teams in the conference this weekend,” Freese said. “It will be a difficult matchup for us and they will be a challenge for our defense.”
While the Chippewas face tough opponents offensively, Freese said the defense needs to play better.
“I have felt like our defense is really going to have to carry us a little bit and our offense is going to have to keep trying to catch up to that,” she said. “If we can duplicate the effort from last weekend against Ohio State, that will be how we can win games.”
CMU is ranked first in goals allowed and has the lowest goals-against average in the MAC.
Second meeting with Miami
The Chippewas lost 3-1 to Miami on Sept. 11.
Goalkeeper Melinda Curran said the key for the game against the RedHawks lies on the execution of the penalty corners.
“The first time we played them, we struggled some offensively on the penalty corners,” she said. “We have practiced and I think we have gotten better in that area this week. I think that if we take advantage of our opportunities it will be a much different game.”
Miami has played two MAC games already, more than any other team in the conference, winning both. But Freese said if the team wins both games this weekend, the conference standings will look vastly different.
“If we get two wins, it is a whole different situation,” she said. “Miami has played two conference games and they are 2-0 right now. If we beat them this weekend and pick up a win against Ball State, that puts us at 2-1 with Miami. That would be huge. So obviously it is a big weekend.”
Last weekend, CMU beat Vermont and held No. 20 Ohio State to a single goal.
“We have had some good competition in Ohio State and Vermont,” Curran said. “I think that we have gotten some confidence from these games to take into these MAC games this weekend.”
