Field hockey advances in MAC tournament with win against Mo. State
The Central Michigan field hockey team will move on to the second round of the Mid-American Conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
CMU (5-13, 3-7 MAC) used a late goal from senior Pam Seufert to knock off Missouri State Thursday at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
The Chippewas got on the board first in the 29th minute when sophomore Erin Dye ripped a shot through the rushing MSU penalty corner defense and into the back of the net. The goal was Dye’s third in the past two games, all three coming off the penalty corner.
“Erin’s goal, that’s the shot she scored on against Ball State twice and it’s turning into her bread and butter,” said CMU head coach Cristy Freese.
Just before the end of the first half, the ball found its way to Casey Bayliss’ stick in a scrum in front of the net and she sent it past junior Anastasia Netto to knot the game at 1-1.
“We talked about what happened in the first half with the goal they scored,” Freese said. “I thought, in the second half, our penalty corner defense was better.”
The Bears won the penalty corners battle 8-2.
In the 55th minute, Dye put a shot on net, though it got caught in scrum of players in the circle.
Freshman Bailey McKeon found the ball and sent it to Seufert, who capitalized on only the team’s second shot on net of the game.
CMU was outshot 5-4, scoring on both of its shots on net.
“We were hoping for a lot more shots,” Dye said. “Tomorrow, Kent (State) is an incredibly defensive team and they’re very talented. We’re going to need more of them.”
In the heat of the tournament, the team saw more cards Thursday than any other game this season.
Senior Kim Sihota and Seufert each received yellow cards and the five-minute suspensions that came with them. MSU’s Sarah Cusick got a yellow card of her own.
“I understand the calls and I agree with the calls,” Freese said. “If you’re not five yards away on the free hit, you can’t play the ball. I think we just need to be a little smarter tomorrow.”
Junior Brooke Sihota was cleared to play in the tournament after seeing the doctor on Tuesday and rejoined the starting lineup after two weeks off.
“Brooke is a great communicator on the field,” Dye said. “She’s one of our top players so it was incredible having her back.”
The Chippewas will take on the No. 1 Kent State team at 11 a.m. Friday at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
Ohio 5, Ball State 0
In the second game of the day, Ohio came out firing and didn’t stop, knocking off No. 6 Ball State 5-0.
Laura Mastro got the game-winning goal in the ninth minute of play and added an assist on Brittany Zorn’s goal in the 12th minute. Brooke Edwards, Cathryn Altdoerffer and Louzeth Schutte each added tallies of their own.
Senior Courtney Seiders got the win, recording her second one-save shutout in the past three games.
OU will hit the field again at 1:30 p.m. today against No. 2 Miami.
