Field hockey aggressive in OSU win
Coach Cristy Freese juggled her lineup prior to Sunday’s game against Ohio State in search of finding aggressive players.
The strategy worked as Central won 2-1 to improve to 4-4 on the season.
“I put four freshmen in the starting lineup to shake things up a bit and it worked,” Freese said. “We also switched the system a little and got some things done.”
Ohio State scored a goal in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Then the Chippewas mounted a comeback.
Freshman Allyson Doan scored a goal on an assist from senior Kristy Reed and junior Erica Takach scored the game-winning goal.
“The game was pretty even,” Freese said. “They had more shots on us, but we did a good job of getting in the circle.”
Freshman goalkeeper Sarah Mancuso played the entire game after being pulled Saturday against Ball State.
“She made the necessary adjustments,” Freese said. “She needed to let the shots come to her more instead of trying to go get balls she couldn’t get.”
Junior Laura Glaza said she thought the team responded well to Freese’s lineup change.
“We have confidence in everyone on the team,” Glaza said. “It doesn’t matter who plays, we all knew it was time to step up.”
Central struggled in a 4-1 loss to Ball State Friday.
Cortney Blanchard scored her first goal of the season in the 63rd minute of play on assists from seniors Michelle Fogle and Stasia Burroughs.
It didn’t take long for Ball State to score its first goal. Just one minute and 53 seconds into the game, Chantelle Isacc scored a goal that was assisted by Lindsay Quay. Quay then scored a goal to make it 2-0.
Quay scored another goal in the second half and Theran Teach closed the scoring for the Cardinals.
Danielle Frank split time in goal with Mancuso. Frank played in her first game since injuring her hamstring against Michigan Sept. 17.
Each goalkeeper gave up two goals.
“We put Danielle in to try and give a spark to the team, but it didn’t work,” Freese said. “We took her back out because we didn’t want to injure her any further.”
Central will play at No. 4 Michigan State Tuesday.
Even though MSU is one of the best teams in the country, Central is not intimidated.
