Field hockey drops pair of road games this weekend
After a stellar opening weekend, the field hockey team fell short in week two by dropping two games against Lafayette College and Delaware.
On Saturday, the Chippewas squared off with Pennsylvania opponent Lafayette and took their second loss of the season, 3-2.
CMU's two goals came from senior forward Bailey McKeon and Belgian freshman Maude Stalars. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, as the game was deadlocked at two at the end of the first half.
CMU lead the second half in penalty corners and shots, but could not manage to score the tiebreaker.
The nail-biter ended as the Leopards' Hanna Sotiropoulos netted a late second half goal to seal the victory. Sotiropoulos came into the match as a substitute, and scored two goals to defeat CMU.
"We had a short week of practice and had to practice on Labor Day," said head coach Cristy Freese. "Next weekend we play Friday, Saturday and have Sunday off with no classes which will help our recovery."
Sophomore goalkeeper Sadie Reynolds faced eight shots on target, saving five.
CMU took 12 shots but only managed to get three on target, scoring two. Stalars led the team with five shots.
The Chippewas end the weekend 0-2 after a 2-0 start in their first two home games.
The team showed this weekend that it tends to play better in the second half. It had five shots in the first half and 15 in the second half of both games combined, while allowing just two second half goals as opposed to five first half goals.
"We had a lot of offensive pressure, we had a goal called back and a shot off of the post," Freese said.
Against Deleware, the team went into the half down 2-0, but picked it up in the second half with two goals of its own. The Blue Hens kept their offense up with two more goals of its own for the 4-2 win.
"I think for both we figured out the team after the first half," Freese said. "We only had one game tape of Delaware and Lafayette, so it was hard to get a scouting report."
CMU continues its road trip on Friday and Saturday in Iowa City. The Chippewas will face off with Iowa on Friday at 4 p.m. and with Stanford on Saturday at 3 p.m.
