Field hockey gets offense going
The Central Michigan field hockey team started fast offensively this weekend.
In its two wins, CMU tallied six goals, four coming in the first halves. It was its highest point total since Sept. 14, 2008, when it defeated Colgate, 7-1.
Junior midfielder Erin Dye scored a game-high two goals. Additionally, fellow midfielder Simone Lazar added a single shot, goal and assist.
CMU field hockey coach Cristy Freese was impressed with Lazar’s stat line.
“Simone’s a good player, she’s a smart player and what I liked in the first half was that I thought her and Brooke (Sihota) did a good job of attacking for us,” Freese said. “It just creates a more difficult situation where we can put more people on offense.”
Dye began scoring in the ninth minute and extended the lead to three goals with 8:36 left in the first half.
“I definitely think I took it upon myself to get some in cage,” Dye said. “We really needed to get some in, in order to win because the first couple points on the board are most essential.”
Dye said scoring has given her a much-needed assurance of her abilities as the season moves forward.
“It gives me some confidence because I took a lot of shots last year and wasn’t able to convert on a lot,” she said.
Freshmen Cayleigh Immelmann and Mary Alice Moore scored in their first career matches.
“I think it was great to see Cayleigh and Mary score because they’re both very talented girls and I’ve been there before and freshman year is a struggle when you know you’re out there and have the talent to score,” Dye said.
Freese said she was not surprised by the freshman production.
“I certainly know Cayleigh can score and I knew before Mary got here that she was going to be a kid, that when she gets in the circle, she’s hungry for the ball,” Freese said.
Saint Louis rarely crossed the center line, which amounted to one shot on goal for the game. Furthermore, CMU had 14 shots on goal.
“It was really hard to get them out of that area,” Freese said.
Freese was pleased with the offense’s performance, but continues to point out that consistency is paramount for them to be successful.
“You know this is a great day, a great way to open up the season, but one of the big words we said we wanted to work on is 'consistency,'” she said.
