CMU women's lacrosse loses on the road to Cincinnati
Central Michigan sophomore defender Sofia DeGeorge battles for possession of the ball against Cincinnati sophomore midfielder Hailey Joy Simpson in the CMU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (CMLife | Alivia Cranick)
Editor's note: Ava Regitz is Central Michigan Life's sports reporter and Central Michigan University's lacrosse team member. This did not influence our reporting in any way.
With less than eight minutes to go in the first quarter, Cincinnati’s midfield senior Lexie Wolfe received a pass from sophomore attacker Paige Selhorn. Wolfe ran and marked the first goal of the game.
The game continued with Cincinnati University leading at home against Central Michigan University.
Central Michigan lost the game, 14-6. This marked the fourth loss in a row for CMU, with its record at 0-4.
"Against Cincinnati, it's always that dog fight where it's going to come down to the little details," head coach Emilia Ward said. "So that was a lot of it."
The first quarter of the game was a highly defensive game for the Chippewas.
"I thought we were close to putting it together for a full four quarters, so there is probably two minutes in each quarter where we just kind of relaxed a little bit," Ward said.
Isabella Bainbridge got a free position shot against Cincinnati’s defense to score the first goal by the Chippewas, just a couple of minutes into the second quarter.
Less than ten minutes into the second quarter, Selhorn made her own space to score her first goal of the game. This marked her 13th goal in the season so far.
CMU’s freshman attacker Mia Bradley received the ball. As she was surrounded by defensive players, she made a pass to junior attacker Anna Farrar.
Farrar caught the ball over her shoulder and spun over her defender to shoot over her left side. This was Farrar’s first goal of the season, with three shots on goal during the season.
"I thought she really just let the game come to her today," Ward said about Farrar.
Wolfe had another quick goal in the game, with a pass from Selhorn.
The Chippewas followed shortly with a goal from Farrar and an assist from Caye Kalbacher. The goal moved the score to 4-3 for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati’s Wolfe had a strong force during the game, with a back-to-back score in the second quarter. Both goals had assists from Selhorn.
Selhorn received attacker of the week for the Big 12.
Central Michigan’s senior goalie Leila Kahler struggled in the first half with eight goals allowed and only three saves.
The Cincinnati Bearcats started the third quarter strong with a goal just three minutes in. Junior attacker Paige Counts made the goal with an assist from Selhorn.
Bradley received a free position shot with just seven minutes left in the third quarter. The whistle blew, and Bradley sank the ball straight into the goal.
Cincinnati’s junior attacker Amadi Higgins shot the ball over her shoulder in between defenders for her first goal of the season. The ball went straight over Kahler’s shoulder.
The fourth quarter of the game started with Cincinnati being ahead by six points, with a 10-4 score.
Kalbacher got a free position shot and took the ball straight to the cage to score the first goal of the quarter.
She was a Mid-American Conference all-freshman selection last season and started in all 15 games.
With ten minutes left in the game, Cincinnati’s offense spent some time passing, trying to make space for a goal. Selhorn cut in front to shoot and score a goal for the Bearcats.
After a foul by junior defender Ava Regitz, Selhorn received a free position shot to score another goal for Cincinnati.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Bradley passed to Farrar. Farrar cut quickly in front of the crease to make the Chippewas’ final goal of the game.
Cincinnati's junior attacker Brooke Peck ran on the side of the goal to pass the ball to sophomore attacker Chloe Page. Page was waiting right in front of the goal, and she was able to slide the ball in.
"We definitely had some turnovers that just, for us, (were) not catching the ball cleanly or not picking up a ground ball cleanly," Ward said. "Everybody we see is going to learn from that."
The Chippewas will play against Lindenwood on Feb. 28, away in Saint Charles, Missouri.
