Women’s soccer kicks off spring schedule with a pair of games Saturday
The women’s soccer team will be busy over the next several weeks preparing for the fall by scrimmaging with some of the best soccer programs in the State of Michigan.
Central Michigan will kick off its spring schedule hosting Saginaw Valley State and Northwood Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Indoor Athletic Complex.
All six of the Chippewas spring games will be played at home against Michigan, Grand Valley State and Michigan State.
Head coach Peter McGahey said the women have set up a very competitive spring schedule that will help challenge the team while providing opportunities for growth as well.
“I think the spring is always a time where you look to challenge your team to grow and improve and be better than we were in the fall,” McGahey said. “I think we are excited. We’ve created a spring schedule that will allow us some growth, allow us a challenge and allow us some learning. I think it’s a very good spring schedule.”
Outdoor field conditions will dictate the location of CMU's six spring scrimmages.
SVSU went 7-9-1 last season while Northwood finished with a record of 6-10.
On March 29, CMU hosts Michigan State. which finished 9-8 last season. The only meeting between the two teams in 2013 was an exhibition game in Mount Pleasant, which CMU won 1-0.
The Wolverines went 18-4-1 last year and finished ranked No. 6 in the nation, losing to then-No. 1 Virginia during the NCAA championship tournament.
Ferris State will close out the spring schedule for CMU on April 26 at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs were 9-8 last season, losing to GVSU in the semifinal of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Tournament.
Even though the regular season is months away, the spring is a good time for the team to develop some chemistry before the fall, McGahey said.
“You want to see how people have sort of grown from the fall and have grown through the beginning part of the spring season,” McGahey said. " You always want to see where you are at as a team with chemistry.”
McGahey said the goal is always to build a strong, diverse and challenging spring schedule setting the team apart from other Mid-American Conference schools.
“The preference is always to make sure you create diversity for your schedule with the highest level of opponent possible,” McGahey said. “These are also programs that we have a very good relationship with so we are able to now play in a different format other than the other schools (in the MAC)."
McGahey also said he believes facing other MAC schools during the spring is not a good idea.
"I believe that it's counterproductive to schedule against our MAC opponents," he said. "There is no reason for those opponents to have any extra time to look at us or compete against us.”
