Strong opening weekend could prove helpful for tough field hockey schedule
Field hockey couldn't have asked for a better start to the 2013 season.
The Chippewas jumped out to a 2-0 start this weekend, allowing just one goal while defeating Robert Morris 2-0 and St. Louis 6-1.
Head coach Cristy Freese agreed the Chippewas did their job over the weekend.
“I told the team it was a good weekend,” Freese said. “I thought overall, we had a great team effort (Sunday).”
CMU did what most teams hope to do in its first outing, and that is to have a winning record.
“It’s always nice to start off successfully," Freese said. "You talk as a coaching staff (about) what the team needs to do, so then when you can put it out on the field and it can work, certainly that helps."
A 2-0 start and outscoring opponents 8-1 sets a strong tone to start the season, and the team hopes to stay hot.
Time will tell whether the Chippewas can stay fired up.
“I think we have a lot of different weapons, and that’s what you want to have," Freese said. "If (opponents) try to shut down Cayleigh (Immelman), Bailey (McKeon) or Maude (Stalars), then we have other people who can score."
The team starts on the road Friday at Delaware, followed by a solid month of road games.
However, being on the road is something the Chippewas will have to get used to, only having home field advantage three more times this season.
During the road trip, the team will face three top-20 opponents in No. 13 Iowa, No. 12 Stanford and No. 20 New Hampshire.
After CMU returns home Oct. 5 to play Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State, it'll hit the road again to Ann Arbor and play No. 9 Michigan. After another long road trip, the team finishes the home schedule Oct. 27 with No. 11 Northwestern.
“It’s just going to get tougher,” Freese said.
