Central Michigan University Athletics
Big Trip on tap for Chippewa Field Hockey Team
9/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Shelby Shafer, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Central Michigan field hockey coach Cristy Freese has always approached the non-conference portion of the schedule first and foremost as preparation for league play.
The Chippewas will get a good take this weekend on where they stand as they face several tests, some on the field, some off, with a trip to the state of California.
CMU will play Pacific in Stockton on Thursday, Stanford in Palo Alto on Friday, and UC Davis on Sunday.
In all, the Chippewas will easily log more than 4,000 round-trip miles, play three road games in a four-day span, face one of the nation's best teams, and the weather promises to be 25-30 degrees warmer than what the Chippewas have experienced in Mount Pleasant over the past week.
It's CMU first trip outside the state of Michigan this season, and the Chippewas will travel with an 18-player roster rather than their normal 21.
"Good competition all the way around," Freese said. "It's a challenge, and it's a challenge in a lot of ways. We're going to need everybody that we're bringing with three games in four days and the weather being hotter, it'll be a challenge for us."
Pacific is 3-5, UC Davis 1-4, and Stanford is 6-1 and ranked eighth. CMU is 1-5.
"Everybody that we play is good," Freese said. "Stanford, they're exceptional, but UC Davis is going to be a challenge and Pacific is going to be a challenge. They're all well-coached teams."
Stanford goalkeeper Dulcie Davies has posted four shutouts this season and leads the nation in goals against average (0.42) and save percentage (.914). The Cardinal dropped its first game of the season on Sunday, falling to seventh-ranked Albany, 1-0.
Playing ranked teams is nothing new for CMU. The Chippewas have faced both Duke (ranked third) and Michigan (18th). Later this season, the Chippewas will see 15th-ranked Northwestern and 16th-ranked Michigan State.
Sunday's game against UC Davis marks CMU's final non-conference game for three weeks. The Chippewas open Mid-American Conference play at Ball State on Sept. 27, then will return home for conference games against Longwood and Miami before entertaining Northwestern in a non-leaguer.
"We're still obviously working on some things and trying to get the right combinations out there," Freese said. "We're seeing some good things from our team and then we're seeing some things that we obviously need to work on. The bottom line is that we're still 0-0 in the conference and we're working to improve every day. Win or lose, we have to improve."
The Chippewas notched their first victory last week, 2-1, over Virginia Commonwealth on Cayleigh Immelman's goal with under a minute to play. Two days later, the Chippewas fell to Providence, 5-1.
"You're always excited to win, but very excited for that first one especially when we'd gone three weeks into the season," Freese said. "I thought our players were confident and focused and really believed that they could get it done. You can't ask anything more of your team there.
"I think from watching the videotape of Sunday's game with the team, they can really see that it's `Look, we just need to clean some things up and be a little bit more consistent in some of the simple things.'"
