Field hockey falters in dual 4-1 losses at home
The field hockey team suffered its two worst defeats of the season in its first two games at the Field Hockey Complex this weekend.
Central Michigan lost to Miami (Ohio) 4-1 on Friday and by the same score to Iowa Sunday, after losing by one goal in each of its four other losses this season.
Though the scores were the same, the games played out in contrasting styles.
The Chippewa scoring chances were aplenty against the Redhawks, while they struggled to attack the defense of the Hawkeyes.
Iowa sprayed CMU with 15 shots in the second half and held them to two. The Hawkeyes used their advantage in penalty corners to lengthen the lead to 3-1, scoring four minutes into the second half to take the lead.
Iowa scored in the first minute of the game with a breakaway goal by sophomore Corinne Allen, who stole the ball from CMU.
Chippewa junior Erica Garwood tied the score in the first half, with her third goal of the season, off a long rebound in the 16th minute.
“We felt really good after our first goal,” Garwood said. “I thought even after that, throughout the entire first half, we stayed in the game. We kept our composure. We played really well together.”
“I thought we played well in the first half,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “The difference in the game was Iowa made good adjustments. We couldn’t think outside the box on how to do something different in the second half to maybe change that momentum.”
CMU freshman goalkeeper Sadie Reynolds made her first career start and recorded six saves.
The Chippewas are on a five-game losing streak after winning three of their first four. Garwood said the team was ready to end the streak at home.
“We came into the weekend with really high hopes, and we were fired up,” she said. “It’s not like we weren’t ready; we were ready for anything that came at us. You know, it’s too bad we couldn’t bring some wins home.”
Miami (Ohio)
The field hockey team led in just about every category other than goals Friday, recording eight more shots (18), four more shots on goal (10) and five more penalty corners (10) than the Redhawks.
“We put as much pressure on them as we could,” Freese said. “The difference in the game was when we had the ball in the circle, it was packed. When they had the ball in the circle, I don’t think it was really packed.”
Miami took the lead and never looked back in the eighth minute of the game, with a goal from senior Olivia Miller shot from just inside the striking circle.
Mary Alice Moore made up for a missed empty net opportunity in the second half, setting up senior Erin Dye, who scored her fifth goal of the season in the 53rd minute.
“I definitely thought we got some momentum,” Dye said. “But I thought we had momentum the whole game, despite the scoreboard.”
The Redhawks added two more goals in the last 15 minutes of the game, when CMU's players were pushing for a score.
CMU will attempt to pull closer to .500 when it travels to Ball State on Saturday and Pacific Sunday.
