Field hockey wins season opener over Colgate in impressive fashion
Headcoach Catherine Ostoich coaches the team during a timeout on Sept. 6 at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
October 30, 2015.
That was the date the last time the Central Michigan field hockey team scored four goals in one game.
Central Michigan (1-0) defeated Colgate (0-1), 4-1, in its season opener Friday at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
Coach Catherine Ostoich talked before the season about the Chippewas need to improve offensively, and her team responded.
Things started off rough for CMU, which spent much of the first quarter on defense. However, freshman Alice O’Hagan was able to find the back of the goal on her first collegiate shot coming off assists from Anna Riesenberg and Georgina Minta.
“We started slow. We were in our defensive 25 for a good chunk of the first quarter and then we got down there, we earned a corner we got a goal,” Ostoich said. "It was awesome to see, we have talked over and over during preseason, we have to take advantage of the opportunities however many we have, however few we have.”
From there, the Chippewas controlled the game and narrowly missed extending their lead just before halftime. After one half CMU led, 1-0.
Minutes after the start of the second half, Minta was given a green card. Shortly after her return to the field, Samantha Glapinski added another goal to increase the Chippewa lead – this time after an assist from Alli Huddleson.
Freshman Neve Dibley scored CMU’s third goal of the game a few minutes into the fourth quarter, giving her squad a 3-0 lead over Colgate. Junior Taryn Damm was credited with the assist. It didn’t take long for Colgate to get one back, as Blair Boyles scored the first goal of the game for Colgate to cut the Chippewa lead down to two.
Following their first goal, the Raiders pulled their goalie, and it wasn’t long before CMU was able to capitalize. Dibley scored her second goal of the game, this time on an empty net, assisted by Callie Quinn.
Dibley’s goal would prove to be the last for either team as time expired, giving the Chippewas their first win of the season.
The goal from Dibley also marked the third out of the four that were scored by freshmen, something that Ostoich thinks will benefit her team going forward.
“It’s huge I think everyone is now relaxed and we can actually go into season and play,” Ostoich said. "Everyone was so nervous this morning, I mean you could feel the nerves in the locker room and especially because last year we played Colgate and we lost against them in overtime and it was just kind of something we thought we should have had that game.
"To come back out here and really take advantage of that, it's great.”
Next up
The Chippewas will play host again at 11 a.m. Sept. 2 against Saint Louis, a team CMU defeated, 1-0, in the only meeting last year.
