Chippewas Fall to William & Mary, 2-1
9/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Central Michigan field hockey team came out on the short end of a 2-1 decision to William & Mary Friday in a non-league contest at Ocker Field on the campus of the University of Michigan.
The Chippewas slipped to 0-3. William & Mary, which outshot CMU, 25-6, is 1-2. The game was scoreless at halftime.
Olivia Hajek broke through with an unassisted goal 18 minutes into the second half to give the Tribe a 1-0 lead. Less than six minutes later, Peyton Smith made it 2-0.
Senior Cayleigh Immelman drew the Chippewas within a goal when she scored with about five minutes remaining, but CMU could get no closer.
"We started off strong and ended strong, but broke down a little in the middle," CMU coach Cristy Freese said. "William & Mary did some nice things during that time that helped them come out on top."
William & Mary had nine penalty corners to the Chippewas' four. CMU goalkeeper, Sadie Lynn Reynolds, made nine saves. Tribe netminder Meredith Savage made three saves in notching the victory.
Immelman had three of the Chippewas' six shots, while Maude Stalars added two. Kianne Hinkle assisted on Immelman's goal.
The Chippewas return to Ocker Field on Sunday to face the Wolverines (0-2-1). Michigan and the Tribe will square off on Saturday.
It is still early in the season, Freese said, and the Chippewas showed a lot of improvement in Friday's match, and also showed some areas that are still in need of improvement. A majority of the work needs to happen in the defensive end, she said.
"We need a little more organization and better use our offensive opportunities," she said. "We need to fully utilize our opportunities to score."
Going into the game against the Wolverines, Freese said she plans to try new player combinations.
"If we won or if we lost we are already motivated for the game on Sunday," she said.
