Field hockey loses to Miami in OT
This was a game the field hockey team let slip away, said coach Cristy Freese, as CMU lost to Miami (Ohio) 2-1 Sunday in overtime.
Junior Pam Seufert scored a goal for the second consecutive game, but the lone Chippewas goal was not enough. The loss drops CMU to 3-5 on the season and 1-2 in the Mid-American Conference.
“We are disappointed with it. We played them better than we did a couple of weeks ago, but we know we want to win the game, and a win today would have tied us for first place,” Freese said. “We missed that opportunity, too, so we have got to regroup and get better. But I have seen us get better every weekend.”
Miami beat the Chippewas 3-1 in Oxford, Ohio, on Sept. 11.
Senior goalkeeper Melinda Curran totaled nine stops in the game, including a sliding stop on an open Miami (Ohio) forward with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Curran made multiple key stops as the RedHawks pressured the Chippewas throughout the entire second half, outshooting them 9-2.
“I just tried to stay focused on where they were with the ball — just keep myself centered on the ball and just make the save,” Curran said. “This one definitely slipped away. Any conference game is winnable and, to have it go into overtime, we had the chances, we could have put it away, but we didn’t.”
Late-game experience
Curran said the team can benefit from the high-pressure atmosphere overtime brought.
“I think the overtime pressure early on will help us build from this and learn from it,” Curran said. “Later on, if we face the same situation, we will be better prepared for it.”
Freese said it is close games like Sunday’s that will help the team in the future.
“As you get into October games and, as you get towards the tournament, this is what MAC field hockey, to me, is about — these overtime battles,” she said. “And this will really help us as we move along.”
CMU won its first conference game of the season Saturday, beating Ball State 4-1. Seufert scored her first two games of the season.
The Chippewas will stay home this weekend to continue their MAC schedule Friday against Kent State and Saturday against Ohio.
The game against the Zips begins at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. against the Bobcats.
The home games will be the last until Oct. 28 against Big Ten opponent Michigan.
The team went 3-5 at home last season.
