Lacrosse beats Delaware State 19-5 in first home game in program history


Central Michigan’s lacrosse team won their first home game in program history Friday, topping Delaware State 19-5.

It was their first home game as a varsity team in the new CMU Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium, which opened in September 2015.

Head Coach Sara Tisdale said the atmosphere was “perfect” in the new facility. Despite majority of the students on campus being away for spring break, Tisdale was pleased with the turnout in the crowd as well as the turnout of the game.

“It’s gorgeous to have our crowd out here and to have the actual setting be as beautiful as it was,” she said. “I bet we had flights come in from coast to coast today and drives in. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

The Chippewas are 2-2 while the Hornets drop to 2-4. Delaware State finished 107th out of 107 teams in the 2015 NCAA RPI rankings.

Freshman midfielder Summer Abdalla started the game off at the draw. The first goal of the game was scored at 28:37 by freshman midfielder Sydney Wright, her fifth goal of the season.

“We’re really getting the feel of playing other Division I programs,” Abdalla said. “We’re really building up our program with each game and it makes us more prepared for the next one.”

Freshman midfielder Jocelyne Lemay led the Chippewas with four goals. Anna Schoonover and Logan Halvorson each scored three points. Wright, Auguste Jepsen, and Riley Huda scored 2 goals each and Natalie Bloniarz, Abdalla, and Kaitlin Kimble each contributed one.

“Jocelyn definitely continues to be consistent for us,” Tisdale said. “Making those hustle plays (has) really become our brand of lacrosse. “On the offensive side, I think we did a great job with Riley running the offense behind the cage.”

Freshman goalkeeper Dominique Hamman started out for the Chippewas and made four saves. Freshman Clare Laughery took over in goal in the last 40 minutes and made three saves.

The Chippewas opened their season with a 14-1 loss against Michigan, then earned their first win at Gardner-Webb, 16-2. Last weekend they lost at Cincinnati, 14-5.

CMU’s next game is Sunday at home against Virginia Commonwealth (2-4). Their Atlantic Sun Conference season begins on March 30 when the Chippewas travel to Detroit to face the Titans.

“If you think about our Michigan game and look at where were at now, we see improvements everyday,” Tisdale said. “It’s a lot of fun especially with such a young program. It’s one of those great things for us as a coaching staff to see that everyday we get better.”

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About McKenzie Sanderson

McKenzie Sanderson is the Sports Editor at Central Michigan Life. She is a senior at Central ...

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