CMU field hockey shut out by U-M
Michigan scored in the seventh minute Sunday and never looked back as it shut out Central Michigan 4-0 at Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor.
CMU (1-3) continues to trail its opponents offensively, losing the shots battle for the fourth consecutive game by a 17-7 margin.
“We’ve been playing some good teams, but we’ve got to step up and pressure a little better and make sure we know who needs to get that done,” said CMU head coach Cristy Freese.
U-M forward Vanessa Sekhon started the scoring in the first half, sending a pass from Meredith Way over the shoulder of junior goaltender Anastasia Netto.
The Chippewas were able to hold their opponents to the lone goal through the first half of regulation for the second consecutive game.
“We were able to get out of the first half down 1-0, and I thought we made some good adjustments, but there were some things in the second half that I think we could have done better both offensively and defensively,” Freese said.
Bryn Bain and Rachael Mack each added a goal — two minutes apart — in the second half to pad their lead, and Sekhon scored her third goal of the season in the 59th minute to put away any hopes of another late comeback by the Chippewas.
“We had some penalty corner opportunities that we didn’t score on and they came down and got some good shorts and scored,” Freese said. “I thought the result could have been a little different, but we’ve got something to work on.”
Saturday
CMU earned its first win of the season with the help of its young offense late in the game Saturday.
Following a CMU timeout with 13:58 remaining down 2-0, the team upped their pressure. Freshman Juliana Makrinos scored her first collegiate goal to put the Chippewas on the board and added another tally nine minutes later off a penalty corner to knot up the score. In overtime, junior Paulina Lee sent the ball right to freshman Bailey McKeon’s stick, who sent the ball into the back of the net.
“I think a major improvement was our communication,” Lee said. “We’re talking more so we can connect on our passes, and the speed of our game has improved a lot.”
The team will head to Saint Louis next weekend to take on UC-Davis and host SLU Saturday and Sunday.
