Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Soccer Team Opens MAC Play at Home
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Parker Scott, CMUchippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - It's get-down-to-business, Mid-American Conference style, for the Central Michigan soccer team.
The Chippewas, unbeaten in two home dates, open league play on Friday at the CMU Soccer Complex against Northern Illinois (2-6-0). On Sunday, they entertain Western Michigan (6-2-0). Friday's match is the MAC opener for the Huskies, while Western's league opener is Friday at Toledo.
CMU (2-5-1) defeated Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, 2-0, at home a week ago.
"We're coming off a good performance last Friday," coach Peter McGahey said. "I think the confidence and excitement is high again, and we are looking forward to starting the MAC season."
"It's always good to have a home crowd," said Chippewa senior Laura Gosse, a team captain. "I think it's good because the freshmen feel more comfortable, and I think it's good having the students out, so hopefully we can hear the crowd during the game."
Gosse has scored four of her MAC-leading six goals in CMU's last three games. She also leads the league with 12 points.
"It's a bit of pressure, obviously, because I want to keep it going," Gosse said. "I want to keep finding ways to score, and ways to contribute to the team, so I think obviously hearing something like that is always positive, but it also kind of makes me think about what I have to do to keep it going."
Northern Illinois has lost two straight, the first to Southern Illinois, the second to Chicago State. The lone common opponent among the Chippewas and Huskies is Illinois State. Northern Illinois dropped its season-opener to the Redbirds, 4-1; CMU lost to them, 5-1, a month ago.
"We'll do the things that we do, and hopefully our attack will be bothersome enough for them, that they'll have to worry about defending us," McGahey said. "Consistency and being able to control the things that you can control are most important."
The Chippewas registered 20 shots - far and away their season-high - last week against IPFW. They also had nine corners to the Mastodons' three. Both statistics are signs that CMU is in attack mode.
"I think we just have to force our game on them, so it's not necessarily what they can do, it's what we can do, and if we take control of the game the way we've been handling it in practice, we'll be alright," CMU defender Emily Basten said.
Western Michigan opened the season with four straight victories before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Michigan State, a win that lifted the Spartans to 6-0. The Broncos' second loss came to Illinois State, 1-0. Both of Western's losses have come on the road.
Western, the defending MAC Tournament Champion, leads the MAC in goals (14), points (39), and corners (50). All six of the Broncos' victories have been shutouts, and they lead the league in both goals allowed (4) and shutouts (6).
Kaitlyn Collin and Stephanie Herber have alternated in goal for the Broncos, combining for a MAC-best .480 goals-against average, a number that ranks 18th nationally.
