Central Michigan University
Missouri State
Chippewas Cruise to 4-0 Victory Over Missouri State
11/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 3, 2005
MOUNT PLEASANT - A dominating Central Michigan University defense kept the Missouri State offense off the scoreboard, and nearly shotless, in a 4-0 Chippewa victory on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the 2005 Mid-American Conference Tournament at the CMU Field Hockey Complex. The Chippewas continue their season when they battle Kent State, the No. 1 seed, tomorrow at noon.
The Chippewas improve to 9-11, and the Bears end their season at 4-15.
CMU kept MSU shotless until the 60th minute, and held the Bears to just one shot the entire match.
CMU head coach Cristy Freese was proud of the defense and offense in the win.
"This is the first game where we had all four defenders showing up and performing well," Freese said. "Kim Ferris had her best game of the season, and I thought every back did an excellent job today. Their performance was noticeable since we held MSU to just one shot. On offense, we did very well executing our shots and penalty corners. Amanda Lucik really stepped up today and gave our offense a spark."
Erica Takach and the Chippewa offense peppered MSU goalie Kim Kinsella with 18 shots in the match.  | |
In the ninth minute, CMU notched its first goal when senior forward Alisa Folk deflected a pass over MSU keeper Kim Kinsella on an assist from senior midfielder Erica Takach. Folk recorded her ninth goal of the season, and Takach earned her 14th assist of the year, tied for second all-time on the CMU season list with Kim McCormick (1980). Takach needs two assists to tie Megann Burns (1997) at the top. With Takach's 19 career assists, she is eighth on the CMU career assist category.
"Erica is just a team player," Freese said. "She has been tremendous this season. Teams focus on her because she has great intensity and vision. She takes what the defense gives her and converts."
The score remained 1-0 at halftime, but the Chippewas upped the score to 2-0 in the 43rd minute. Senior back Laura Glaza was chosen to take the penalty stroke, and she flipped the ball above Kinsella's head into the net. Glaza earned her second career goal in back-to-back matches. She tallied the game-winner on a penalty stroke against Ohio last Saturday in a 3-2 CMU win.
Just two minutes later, Alicia Balanesi netted her first of two goals in the match. She scored on a breakaway pass from Lucik. Then, Balanesi netted her eleventh goal of the season from Samantha Sandham and Allyson Doan in the 49th minute. Balanesi has a team-high 27 points.
"Alicia knows how to be a scorer," Freese said. "She has the ability to get the ball in the net and that is something you can not teach."
Chippewa keeper Danielle Frank needed to make just one save to earn her second shutout of the season. Her first shutout came against MSU in a 4-0 win on September 24. Kinsella stopped 13 shots for the Bears.
"Danielle performed well in the game, even though she only faced one shot," Freese said. "She was a leader on the defense."
The Chippewas held the Bears in check in shots and penalty corners. CMU had 18 shots and corners, but they held MSU to just one shot and two corners, which was a season best for the Chippewa defense.
Freese is already looking to tomorrow's tournament match with No. 1 seed Kent State.
"We know we can prepare for KSU since we recently played them," Freese said. "This is what we wanted: a shot at redemption. We will need to perform even better with penalty corners tomorrow in order to win."
No. 3 seed, Miami, battles No. 6 seed, Ball State, at 2:30 p.m. today. The winner will take on Ohio, the No. 2 seed, tomorrow at 2:30 at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
