Central Michigan University Athletics
2010 Field Hockey: Season Review
11/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
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MOUNT PLEASANT – The 2010 season for the Central Michigan hockey team was one marked by youth, close games and in the end, a fourth straight trip to the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Chippewas, who had 13 first or second year players out of 20 on their roster, finished the season with a record of 6-14 overall, 3-7 in the MAC. Eight out of their 20 games were decided by one goal. Three of the games went into overtime and one game was decided by a shootout.
CMU went 4-4 in the matches decided by one goal and went 2-1 in overtime games. Their wins were a 3-2 overtime win over Providence, a 2-1 win over Saint Louis in which Amanda von Leer scored off a penalty corner as time expired, a 2-1 win over Ohio that came when the Chippewas defeated the Bobcats 4-3 in penalty strokes and a 2-1 win over Missouri State in the first round of the MAC Tournament.
“I thought we had a good showing in the MAC and in the MAC tournament, especially with the young team that we had,” said CMU head coach Cristy Freese. “We certainly enjoyed the overtime games that we won early on, especially the big win over Ohio University.”
CMU closed out the season strong as they won two out of their last three games, getting a 3-1 win at Ball State to finish their regular season and defeated Missouri State in the MAC Tournament before falling to eventual tournament champion Kent State.
Sophomore Erin Dye led the Chippewas offensively. Dye had seven goals, 16 points, 66 shots and 37 shots on goal. She finished fifth in the MAC in shots.
Other top contributors to the CMU attack were senior Pam Seufert, freshman Juliana Makrinos and junior Brooke Sihota. Seufert had four goals and three assists on the season. Three of her four goals and all of her assists came in the last three games. Makrinos had three goals and two assists. Sihota had two goals and three assists despite missing four games with an injury. Freshman Bailey McKeon was second on the team in shots with 25, while junior Paulina Lee took 19 shots even though she missed four games to injury. Brooke and Kim Sihota each had 15 shots as well.
Two players from the CMU back line earned selections to the All-MAC team. Senior back Kim Sihota earned a first-team selection and her sister, junior back Brooke Sihota was named to the second team.
Junior Anastasia Netto took over the starting goalkeeper position early in the season and never looked back. She played over 90 percent of CMU’s goalkeeper minutes in 2010. Netto finished her season strong as she was named MAC Defensive Player of the Week for the last week of regular season play. She ended her season with a goals against average of 2.68 and a save percentage of .697. Her save percentage was third in the MAC.
Another highlight of the season for the program was hosting the MAC Tournament at the CMU Field Hockey Complex. It was the second time CMU has hosted the conference tournament since the new complex was built. There were two Chippewas named to the MAC All-Tournament Team: Kim Sihota and freshman midfielder Simone Lazar.
The seniors on this year’s team are Amy Binder, Pam Seufert, Kim Sihota and Amanda von Leer.
“This was a great senior class,” said Freese. “They worked really well in their leadership roles and every one of them had an influence on what the team did. They kept the atmosphere positive and really kept everybody on the same page and enthusiastic throughout the entire season.”
The Chippewas are returning 16 letterwinners next fall, including six of the eight leaders in points, six of the top seven in goals and five of the top seven in assists. CMU will also return eight of their top nine in shots and shots on goal. Finally, they will return 11 of the 13 players that led the team in minutes played.
“We definitely have higher expectations next season,” said Freese. “We need to move up into the upper echelon of the conference. Now that’s a lofty goal, but we have a starting goalkeeper returning, plus a strong defense anchored by Brooke Sihota, along with Paulina Lee, who is a great leader on the front line. Also, Erin Dye has some great potential. But the strength of our team is that we have 16 returning lettermen and the experience of playing together that goes with that many players coming back.”
