Field hockey looks to snap five match skid
Headcoach Catherine Ostoich talks with her team after their loss on Sept. 7 at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
When Central Michigan field hockey dropped their match on Sunday against No. 20 Stanford in Bloomington, Indiana, that solidified five-straight losses.
The Chippewas now sit with a 1-6 record, with their only win coming in the second game of the season.
In the string of the last five matches, the Chippewas have fallen in close games and blowouts. They have seen a pair of blowouts in the past week to Pacific at home and Stanford in Bloomington.
CMU also lost two close games at La Salle and an overtime heartbreaker to Saint Francis at home last Friday when a pair of untimed corners forced the game to overtime, and eventually going the way of the Red Flash.
Head coach Catherine Ostoich has emphasized possession and offense in the past week of practice.
“I think we have harped on that all week and we understand that we can’t give the ball away easily this weekend,” Ostoich said. “That’s something we’ve been practicing and hopefully it transfers over into the weekend.”
The Chippewas look to show off their changes on Saturday against the Longwood Lancers in a Mid-American Conference matchup at the CMU Field Hockey Complex and then head to Ann Arbor on Sunday to take on the Michigan Wolverines at Phyllis Ocker Field Hockey Field.
“We’re excited,” Ostoich said. “It’s the first MAC conference game and we actually got a full week of practice. It’s been our first full week of practice this entire season which has been nice.”
Ostoich has tried to make changes on the defensive front, citing discipline as a key issue.
“A big focus for us is keeping possession and limiting defensive corners we’re giving up,” Ostoich said. “We’ve given up way too many defensive corners in the last couple of games and that seems to be where other teams are scoring on us. We’re really trying to foul outside of the circle and keep the corners to a minimum, we do that, I think we’ll see success down the field.”
