Coming off an 8-13 record in 2009, CMU begins the 2010 season on Aug. 28 against Michigan State at the Champion Invitational in East Lansing. MSU finished the 2009 season with an 18-4 record and No. 6 overall ranking.

The Chippewas will then play either Louisville or Duke – both schools finished with a Top 25 ranking last season – the next day.

“It’s quite the challenging opening weekend for us,” said head coach Cristy Freese. “This is a tournament we were invited to. Would I have liked to have a few more games under my belt? Sure.”

CMU opens its home schedule on Sept. 11 against Providence before going to Ann Arbor to play Michigan on Sept. 12. CMU beat the Wolverines 1-0 last season in Mount Pleasant.

“If you look at our first four games, (they’re) all in the state of Michigan,” Freese said. “I really like our travel schedule, especially early in the season, because we don’t have a lot of long bus rides.”

Freese’s squad will play six consecutive games at the CMU Field Hockey Complex from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.

The home stand begins against non-conference opponents New Hampshire and Iowa and continues into the start of the Mid-American Conference season.

The Chippewas play Kent State (Oct. 1), Ohio (Oct. 2), Ball State (Oct. 8 ) and Miami (Oct. 9) on consecutive weekends, something Freese said is important for the rest of MAC play. CMU went 1-3 in its home tilt with these same teams last season.

“We better take advantage of that,” Freese said. “Our MAC schedule is a little odd. Every three or four years, someone has to do that where they have three home weekends in a row and then three away weekends.”

Ohio, which won the Mid-American Conference championship in 2009, beat CMU three times last season, including knocking the Chippewas out of the MAC tournament.

They meet the Bobcats two more times in 2010.

But for the team to be successful, Freese said, some of the young players will have step up. CMU loses six seniors from last season, including goalkeepers Melinda Curran and Kahla Schwall.

“We could be rebuilding,” Freese said. “I never like to think we are. From a team standpoint, we’re always working for a MAC championship in the year that we’re in. We’ll have a lot of young players and it’s going to be really important that our older players really come back and are ready to go.”

CMU hosts the MAC tournament Nov. 4-6.

2010 schedule:

Champions Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.) Sat. Aug. 28 vs. Michigan State Sun. Aug. 29 vs. Louisville or Duke

Sat. Sept. 11 vs. Providence Sun. Sept. 12 at Michigan Sat. Sept. 18 vs. California-Davis (at St. Louis, Mo.) Sun. Sept. 19 vs. Saint Louis (at St. Louis, Mo.) Sat. Sept. 25 vs. New Hampshire Sun. Sept. 26 vs. Iowa Fri. Oct. 1 vs. Kent State Sat. Oct. 2 vs. Ohio Sat. Oct. 9 vs. Ball State Sat. Oct. 10 vs. Miami (OH) Sat. Oct. 16 at Missouri State Sun. Oct. 17 at Missouri State Sat. Oct. 23 at Ohio Sun. Oct. 24 at Kent State Sat. Oct. 30 at Miami (OH) Sun. Oct. 31 at Ball State Nov. 4-6 MAC Tournament