Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Look to Bounce Back in Detroit
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
DETROIT, Mich. - In athletics, a short memory is an admirable trait.
Win or lose, the most important one is the next one, be it a play, a jumpshot, a pitch, a half, a game or what have you.
Sure, there has been some looking back in the near week since the Central Michigan women's soccer team last suited up for a match. There always is, because, as they say, if you don't learn from history, you're destined to repeat it.
For the record, the Chippewas dropped their opener, 2-1, to DePaul on Saturday. On Sunday, they fell to a very good Illinois State team, 5-1. Both teams were played on the road.
"I think there's a lot of things that you could really peacock about with a loss like that," CMU coach Peter McGahey said in pointing to the loss at Illinois State. "You could really make a lot out of it and put your feathers up and really try to make more of it than it is, but I do think that you can't totally disregard it either.
"You have to take the appropriate lessons from it and say OK, here's the places and here's the areas where you've got to get better as a team, here's where we've got to get better collectively, here's where we've got to get better and improve and I think those are the things that are most important. "You come away from the weekend feeling confident that they are things we can change and grow from."
The Chippewas play at Detroit on Sunday (1 p.m.), then play host to Oakland on Friday, Sept. 5, in their home opener. Both matches are non-conference.
Last week's lost at Illinois State is forgettable, in the grand scheme of things, but memorable in another sense: the temperature in Springfield, Ill., reached 95 degrees with a heat index of more than 110 degrees.
"You can look at the film and you can say the one thing that is not on the film is a thermometer," McGahey said. "The reality is is, yes it was hot, the heat was scorching, and two teams had to play in it."
The weather certainly promises to be more conducive to soccer on Sunday and as the season continues, but either way, it's like the old saying, you can't control the weather.
What McGahey and his players can control, however, is how they respond to the 0-2 start.
"What you're always looking for is response," McGahey said. "Who bounces back? Who's recovering? Who's taking information and applying it? I think those things are what we're hoping to see this week."
The Titans are 1-1 after a 3-1 season-opening loss to Toledo and a 2-0 win over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne on Friday. Detroit has been outshot, 29-22, in its two matches. The Chippewas have been outshot, 45-7.
