The Chippewas were optimistic with two close losses to Kent State coming in overtime.

But the Golden Flashes let their fan’s hearts rest easy with a lopsided 4-1 victory.

“The difference in the game was penalty corner execution,” said CMU coach Cristy Freese. “They lift the ball to the far post, just out of (Anastasia Netto’s) reach.”

Julianna Makrinos snatched the first lead in the fifth minute for CMU.

“We were actually really excited because we scored the first goal and we knew that we started the game off strong,” Makrinos said. “It was pretty disappointing that we did not get a goal soon after.”

Kent State followed by tallying four unanswered goals, including three in a five-minute span in the second half.

Round one

Missouri State and the Chippewas were going in opposite directions entering Thursday’s first round matchup.

CMU had dropped its previous three games while the Bears won their last four.

But they seemed to meet paths when it was scoreless at halftime. The Chippewas sprung back into a positive direction thereafter.

CMU junior Erin Dye began and ended the second half with goals.

Both were a result of a play that the Chippewas worked on in their last two practices.

“Cayleigh (Immelman) passes the ball a little lower into the circle and Erin one-times it in and it worked to perfection both times,” Freese said.

Dye’s last goal widened the margin to two after Immelman and Bears forward Casey Bayliss traded scores, giving the Chippewas a 2-1 lead.

“It was a little scary there, so we knew we needed to get insurance goals,” Dye said. “We definitely took control of the ball, tried to get them on our end and get some more opportunities that we could finish on.”

Recapping the season
Chippewas floor leader Paulina Lee ended her senior season with 10 assists. No CMU player had surpassed nine in the previous two seasons.

“Last year after the season, one area that we wanted Paulina to improve in was her vision to see the open player and make the pass,” Freese said. “I think she’s improved on both of them. You got to improve on the skill to make the pass and the vision to see it”

Immelman won MAC Freshman of the Year and All-MAC first team as a result of the 33 points she contributed this season. Simone Lazar was also a MAC first-team member. Lee, Dye and Netto were second team All-MAC.

“It would be awesome. We would be very excited,” said sophomore Juliana Makrinos. “It would mean so much more to us than being stuck where we’ve always been.”

Standing in CMU’s path are Kent State and Miami, which have combined to win every regular season Mid-American Conference championship in those five years.

The Chippewas will earn a No. 2 seed with a win over one of the two perennial powers.

CMU head coach Cristy Freese said a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament is critical after a slate of road games in the last week of the season.

The Chippewas are three games behind Ohio and two games ahead of three teams in a logjam in the standings.

CMU lost 4-3 in double overtime to the Golden Flashes after surrendering a 3-1 lead in their first matchup of the season.

“We need to just keep our intensity, keep up our focus and not let them get back like they did,” Makrinos said.

Freese does not plan on making many adjustments from the previous game.

“Two key things we knew before that game and after that game was Kent State relies on penalty corners and they rely on Debbie Bell,” Freese said. “Both of those things were the reason that Kent (State) won that game here.”

Bell has 20 goals as well as four assists this season. The senior sits 11th in goals scored in NCAA history.

The Bobcats have been in a league of their own this year.

Five OU players who have at least 20 points are equal to the number of 20-point scorers the five other Mid-American Conference teams have collectively.

The Bobcats also have 13th ranked goalkeeper Jen McGill behind their high-octane offense.

“They’re tough to score against,” Freese said. “There’s not a lot of room for error against OU and you’ve got to capitalize on your opportunities.”

Looking back

Freese thinks freshman Cayleigh Immelman should be considered for MAC Freshman of the Year.

She also added it will most likely be based on how well CMU performs, however. Immellman has 11 goals and seven assists in her first season with the Chippewas.

CMU has earned the distinction as the least penalized team in the MAC with one yellow card entering the last two games of the season.

“We know the rules and we treat the empires with respect,” Freese said. “Our team needs to get stronger physically so we don’t get pushed off the ball, but I’m never going to teach a team to be a dirty team.”

It was clearly Goliath against the 1-13 Mountaineers and David versus No. 5 Duke.

The Blue Devils scored two goals in the middle of the first half after the Chippewas held them in check for the first 22 minutes.

Duke put salt on the wound by scoring two goals in the last eight minutes of the game, winning 5-0.

“The score doesn’t really show how well we played.” CMU midfielder Simone Lazar said. “We played a lot harder than the score (shows).”

CMU goalie Anastasia Netto faced a vaunted offense that fired 21 shots, compared to two by the Mountaineers.

The Chippewas offense had four shots after tallying 25 against ASU.

“I thought that (Duke’s) speed mattered more when we had the ball,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “They were quick to get on us, so I think we had to make some decisions quicker than we’re used to.”

The win against the Mountaineers marked CMU’s first winning streak of more than two games in the last two seasons.

CMU continued to share the ball with an assist for every goal scored. CMU was ranked 19th in assists with 2.43 per game entering Saturday’s game.

Redshirt sophomore Erica Garwood scored her first-career goal with family in attendance.

“Having my entire family there meant so much to me,” Garwood said. “To score my first collegiate goal ever was such a great experience.”

Garwood spent much of Friday night in the emergency room after injuring her elbow in practice. It did not seem to faze her after missing the last two seasons as a result of torn ACLs.

“We feel she’s been knocking on the door for goals in the past couple of games,” Freese said.

The Chippewas play for the No. 2 spot in the Mid-American Conference next weekend. They believe they are up for the challenge.

“We heard from their coaches and umpires that this is not the same team that they saw in the first week of the season,” Lazar said. “If we play our game going into next weekend, we can definitely keep second place.”

CMU plays against conference foes Kent State and Ohio next weekend to finish out the regular season.

Head coach Cristy Freese won’t let it happen.

The team travels to Durham, N.C. this weekend to face Appalachian State at 11 a.m. on Saturday and No. 5 Duke at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The distance of 828 miles is CMU’s farthest travel, but Freese is not letting the team lose focus on the upcoming games.

“We only have four more games before the Mid-American Conference Tournament, so every game is very important,” Freese said. “I feel confident that the team is prepared and traveling shouldn’t factor in our performance.”

The Chippewas are coming of last weekend’s sweep and have confidence after moving back into second in the MAC standings with a 7-7 record.

“I really don’t pay attention to our record and wins and losses,” Freese said. “I focus on one game at a time. The past is the past and I’m not going to waste my time thinking what could have been.”

This week Freese held a closed practice Tuesday to help the team prepare for a strong push into the last stage of the 2011 season. The team has continued its focus on improving defensively and playing with intensity in the beginning of games.

“We are getting better, but we still have areas where we can improve,” Freese said. “We have to be on our A game in every game because that’s what it’s going to take this team to win.”

The offense will continue to count on the leadership of senior captain Paulina Lee, the aggressiveness of junior Erin Dye and the execution of freshman Cayleigh Immelman.

Appalachian State

The Mountaineers carry a (1-13) record. One of the losses came from North Carolina in a 12-0 loss. They come into Saturday’s game on a seven-game losing streak.

The No. 5 Bluedevils are (7-4) and defeated No. 1 Old Dominion last Sunday.

“Duke is a good team and we are going to have to play one hundred percent each half,” Lee said. “Their win over Old Dominion was impressive, but we can compete and win against the elite teams.”

The Bluedevils defense has allowed 19 goals and their offense is lead by sophomore Emmie Le Merchand, who has 12 goals and 30 points.

Lee was awarded the State Farm Scholar-Athlete of the Week after her one goal, two assist performance last weekend. This was the second time Lee earned the award this season.

The Chippewas wasted little time, scoring their first goal 2:24 into the first half of the game, held at the Field Hockey Complex.

Senior Captain Paulina Lee passed the ball into the circle where junior midfielder Erin Dye was waiting and shot the ball past the goalkeeper.

“Before the game started, we talked about gaining intensity earlier into games,” said head coach Cristy Freese. “We knew this game was going to be a tough challange and the team wanted to play strong for the seniors.”

Ball State answered with a goal when senior forward Devanny Kuhn dribbled the ball past the CMU defense, into the circle and scored unassisted, tying the game at one.

Freshman Cayleigh Immelman flicked the ball over a defenders stick and a diving Lee knocked the ball left of the goalkeepers foot for the winning goal five minutes after the BSU goal.

Junior goalkeeper Anastasia Netto made three saves in the final minutes to keep CMU on top.

“I have to play every minute of every game with the same intensity,” Netto said. “You have to absorb the pressure while in net, and I have complete faith in this team to do the same.”

Miami

Only eight and half minutes into the first half and CMU trailed Miami of Ohio 2-0, not the start Freese imagined.

“In the first half, Miami was being more aggressive than us,” Freese said. “They were mentally being pushed off the ball and had to make some changes to give us a shot to win.”

Despite the two-goal deficit CMU faced, there are two halves and it capitalized in the second, winning 3-2 against the RedHawks on Saturday at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.

Lee carried the ball up the sideline into the corner, passed a defender and crossed the ball from the baseline into the circle where Immelman deflected the ball past the goalkeeper for her ninth goal of the season.

After two questionable false start calls, the Chippewas earned a penalty stroke. RedHawks head coach Inako Puzo was ejected for arguing the call with 21:42 left to play.

Immelman took the penalty stroke and lifted the ball above the goalkeeper’s outstretched glove and into the net, giving the freshman her second goal of the game.

“During penalty strokes I pretend I’m in practice and forget all about the pressure,” Immelman said. “I focus where I want to put the ball and I hope it hits the back of the net — it usually works.”

The two wins put CMU second in the Mid-American Conference standings.

“The sweep this weekend was really important for us,” Freese said. “We got good players and it’s a good feeling to see our hard work pay off this weekend.”

The wins were especially important to senior Lee and Brooke Sihota.

“This win was big because of its conference implications and also because I wanted my last game in Mount Pleasant to be a victory,” Lee said. “Leaving from CMU, I want to be remembered as a good person, a good teammate and a difference-maker on the field.”

The Chippewas finish the regular season with four road games before the MAC Tournament.

Next weekend CMU will travel to Durham North Carolina to play Appalachian State at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Duke at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

“Overall, this weekend was not one of our best,” Lee said. “But this is why I love this team. We are always willing to improve and we need to improve on finishing in the circle.”

Only eight and half minutes into the first half and Central Michigan trailed Miami (OH) 2-0. This was not the start head coach Cristy Freese imagined.

“In the first half Miami was being more aggressive then us,” Freese said. “ They were mentally being pushed off the ball and had to make some changes to give us a shot to win.”

Despite the two-goal deficit CMU faced, there are two halves and it capitalized in the second, winning 3-2 against the RedHawks on Saturday at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.

The second half was dominated by the Chippewas.

Lee carried the ball up the sideline into the corner, passed a defender and crossed the ball from the baseline into the circle where freshman forward Cayleigh Immelman deflected the ball past the goalkeeper for her ninth goal of the season.

After two questionable false start calls, the Chippewas earned a penalty stroke. Miami (OH) head coach Inako Puzo was ejected for arguing the call with 21:42 left to play.

Immelman took the penalty stroke and lifted the ball above the goalkeeper’s outstretched glove and into the net, giving the freshman her second goal of the game and tenth of the season.

“During penalty strokes I pretend in in practice and forget all about the pressure,” Immelman said. “I focus where I want to put the ball and I hope it hit the back of the net, it usually works.”

CMU plays its last home game of the 2011 season against Ball State at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the CMU Field Hockey complex.

They have played valiantly amidst a number of young teammates in a program that should still contend for the future.

Lee has aided the offensive side of the field with a team-leading six assists and two goals this season and was a recipient of the Bill Boyden award for her efforts on and off the field.

Sihota has tallied two goals and two assists. Her defensive prowess has been her means of providing support to the team. She was also awarded defensive player of the week on one occasion this season.

Despite Sihota’s defensive abilities and Lee’s multi-dimensional skills, the team’s chances in 2012 will be as good as any to win the Mid-American Conference regular season championship that has eluded the Chippewas for nine years.

Chippewas goalkeeper Anastasia Netto will be entering her fifth year. This season she has transformed into a new and improved goalie allowing 1.86 goals per game, which is .82 lower than last season.

CMU has a plethora of scorers returning next year. Soon to be senior Erin Dye has been mediocre this season, but looks to return to form.

Experienced freshman Cayleigh Immelman returns. She continues to find herself at the right place at the right time.

Her one-on-one skills have shined.

On an island in Saturday’s game with an opposing player and goalie in front of her, she showed the skills of a basketball player who uses a crossover on a guard and follows by flicking a layup over a forward.

Winning championships is a three-step process: The coach must first incorporate the system into the minds of a majority of the team, the team must compete against the best and subsequently, it must beat the best.

“We’re trying to position our team to not only push for that conference championship this year, but win the conference in 2012,” Freese said at the beginning of the season.

It appears that the Chippewas will do just that next season based on this year’s results. They have lost by more than one goal in only two of their seven defeats.

“We have to really make sure we stay positive as we move forward,” CMU head coach Cristy Freese said. “We know from watching the tape against Kent (State) that there were a couple goals out there.”

The team is embracing its coach’s message.

“The second you let a game that you’ve already done defeat you, you’re letting them defeat you twice,” CMU midfielder Paulina Lee said.

The Chippewas could separate themselves from the bottom of the pack by beating Miami and Ball State on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

CMU, Miami (OH) and Ball State share third place in the standings with a 3-3 conference record. Bottom feeder Missouri State and perennial powers Ohio and Kent State seem to have etched their place in the standings as the conference season approaches its finish.

The Chippewas routed the Cardinals 5-1 in their first matchup, but Ball State has won two of its last three games.

Miami has been more sporadic. It beat Kent State on the road, only losing to Ball State twice.

CMU players Brooke Sihota and Lee play in their last two games at the CMU Field Hockey Complex this weekend.

“I think it will be emotional for us,” Lee said. “To think, this is our last home weekend and last time we’ll be warming up on our home field, in our locker room, our music… I mean, it’s tough.”

Freese described the two seniors as great leaders.

“A lot of times when you get to your senior year, sometimes I think kids have already peaked and they don’t work to get any better and Paulina is just someone who is getting better and better,” Freese said.

She also said her decision to place Sihota back on defense has flourished. That based off the Chippewas No. 2 ranking in points allowed in the MAC.

The two captains will be introduced at the beginning of the game, preceeding that, the players will meet with family members for congratulatory embraces.

“Both my parents and sister have been there for me for everything,” Lee said. “My sister is the main reason I started playing field hockey. I kind of followed her in her footsteps and of course I have to give it out to my parents, dedicating themselves to coming out to see my games in any kind of weather.”

Lee said that the last two home games of her career will be meaningful.

“This one is a little more heartfelt because it is mine and Brooke’s last weekend at home ever at Central Michigan,” Lee said. “We love having our family up. We love having our friends up or people who just pass by and wonder what field hockey is, so any kind of fan support we get always boost our spirits.”

KSU clinched the victory in the 87th minute, winning 4-3 in a battle for second place in the Mid-American conference.

“We had opportunities in regulation to put them away and we didn’t get it done and that’s the next step.” CMU head coach Cristy Freese said. “Our kids feel pretty bad, they’re upset, they’re crying, so I don’t think I need to beat a dead horse.”

The Golden Flashes were down 3-1 when they lit up the scoreboard in the last 10 minutes of regulation.

KSU senior Debbie Bell tied the game on a Hail Mary pass that she did not allow to touch the ground before hitting the back of the net with four minutes left.

“I don’t think our kids have seen that before,” Freese said. “I mean a lift into the circle and a kid takes a baseball swing.”

Freese consoled freshman Jordyn Brengosz, who felt the pain of the goal that evened the score.

“Jordy was upset about how that third goal was scored,” Freese said. “Her hands are pretty sore, but we put a freshman on her and I thought she handled Debbie (Bell) pretty well.”

The Chippewas notched the first two goals of the game in the first 20 minutes.

Cayleigh Immelman intercepted a pass and maneuvered around a Golden Flashes defender to chip it over the goalie.

Sophomore Bailey McKeon scored the second goal and fifth in the last two weeks.

“I haven’t really been thinking of scoring,” McKeon said. “I think we’ve just been trying to connect together as forwards. In the beginning, I was jumbled up and I just have cleared my mind.”

CMU’s last goal was by junior Emily Girasole, who brought the lead back to two in the 50th minute.

A chance to rise to the top of MAC standings was swept away on Friday when they lost 2-0 to Ohio.

“I thought we were right there with them,” Freese said. “The only concern I had is I thought the last 15 minutes of the game we looked like a young team”

Failing to slide the ball past OU’s defense resulted in one shot on goal for the day, in comparison to six shots by the Bobcats.

The Chippewas will finish out their home schedule next weekend against Miami and Ball State.

“What our kids have to do is continue to move forward and do the things that we’re trying to improve on,” Freese said. “As long as we can stay positive and focused we can use the experience so when we’re older we make better decisions.”

“I thought we were right there with them,” CMU head coach Cristy Freese said. “The only concern I had is I thought the last 15 minutes of the game we looked like a young team.”

CMU’s hopes of tying the game were put away by a Bobcats goal in the 58th minute.

The Chippewas passing game was less than pretty. Freese quoted coaching legend John Wooden by saying they have to be quick without hurrying.

Failing to slide the ball past OU’s defense resulted in one shot on goal for the day, in comparison to the six by the Bobcats.

CMU looks to put the OU game behind them as it plays at 1 p.m. on Saturday against Kent State for second place in the MAC.

“I’m a CMU field hockey Chippewa until the day I die and I believe we can come out of this stronger,” CMU goalkeeper Anastasia Netto Said.