Soccer travels, hosts
Lynn Wloszek
A rejuvenated women’s soccer team looks to recover from Sunday’s loss to Kent State with a pair of games this weekend.
The team plays at Ball State Friday and return home to play Miami Sunday.
The Chippewas managed three goals in Friday’s win against Buffalo but were kept off the scoreboard against MAC-leading Kent State.
“We are responding to the loss really well,” said coach Mark Salisbury. “We talked as a team about why we were disappointed with the loss and about what we need to do as a team to be successful.”
Central has played well in weekend openers this season, but has struggled in Sunday matches. Salisbury has said his players need to play consistent soccer for 90 minutes.
“The team was really receptive (to the talk),” Salisbury said. “The players are coming along, they are growing and we are getting better.”
CMU is 2-3-2 and 1-2-1 in the MAC, and need to play well against the MAC’s better competition.
MAC Tournament preseason favorite Ball State is 3-0 in the conference. They are especially successful at home, winning 11 of their past 15 games.
They are led by junior Kate Nadalin with a team-leading four goals, and senior goalkeeper Megan Swafford, who is 4-1 with a 0.58 goals-against average.
Miami also was predicted to finish in the top three and is 2-1 in the conference. MAC Player of the Week Ashley Swinehart leads the conference in goals and points, with seven and 15 respectively.
“We know that we need to improve our record, so we are going to go out this weekend and work hard,” said freshman goalkeeper Anne Decker. “We had a good week of practice, and we are looking forward to playing because we know what needs to get done.”
The Chippewas’ defense has allowed only eight goals in seven games. Decker played in both games last weekend and is second in the MAC in save percentage and fourth in goals-against average.
On offense, the scoring has come from a pair of sophomores, Stacy Downing and Rachel Snyder. Downing leads CMU with three goals and nine points, while Snyder has two goals.
“We have a lot of young players trying to get better,” Salisbury said. “They are playing because they are good and they keep improving every day.”
The team hopes that improvement leads to wins.
“This week has been a lot about playing hard when you don’t have the ball, forcing the opponents to make mistakes, and staying plugged in,” Salisbury said. “Mistakes are going to happen, but if you keep your work ethic, and never check out you will make up for them.”
