Central Michigan University Athletics
Field Hockey Drops Season-Opener
8/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - No time to lick their wounds.
But plenty of time to get better, to grow, and, at some point, look back on it as the start of something.
Delaware held a 22-5 advantage in shots Friday as the Blue Hens rolled past Central Michigan, 10-3, in a non-conference match at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
The loss spoiled the CMU coaching debut of Molly Pelowski who is the Chippewas' first new field hockey mentor in nearly three decades.
CMU plays host to Michigan State at noon on Saturday. Pelowski was a Spartan assistant for seven years. The game is MSU's season-opener.
"We talk about what we need to fix now," Pelowski said. "We re-fuel, we re-hydrate, we get some good rest and we come back and we play our game.
"There's no magic formula that we need to put into place. It's just the little thing we need to do better. That's it."
Taylor Lister, Esmee Peet, Lisa Giezeman and Meghan Winesette scored two goals apiece to lead Delaware, which returned 10 starters and is seeking its third consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championship.
The Blue Hens have made it at least as far as an NCAA Tournament play-in game in each of the past two seasons.
"I think Delaware's a top-20 team," Pelowski said. "They're not ranked now, but I think they will be. Now we have a great measuring stick of where we need to be.
"If we want to compete with top teams in the country, we're going to have to step up our game. Hopefully with pressing, technical individual skill, playing better defense."
Kaysie Gregory scored two goals for the Chippewas and Elaine Materise had one. CMU goalkeeper Sadie Lynn Reynolds made eight saves in taking the loss.
The Chippewas trailed at halftime, 6-1, and were outshot 14-3 over the opening 35 minutes.
"Sadie Lynn Reynolds kept us in the game," Pelowski said. "She was busy, 22 shots total. That's a lot of work for her. I know that she has received accolades in the past for a lot of saves, and I'd like to reduce the number of saves that she's getting. The people in front of her have got to play better. That's the bottom line.
"There were a lot of positive points. We scored two goals off corners ... a lot of good things happened today. I'm disappointed with a loss, but now we know what we need to do. It's a test.
"I don't think we quit. We got a lot of people in the game, which I was happy with."
Pelowski said the Chippewas' first priority against Michigan State on Saturday is a consistent effort.
"Intensity from the first whistle and adjustments from what we learned today," she said. "We've got to play defense and we have to tightly mark. We have to put pressure on the ball carrier and get her head down. We did those things sometimes (against Delaware), but we didn't do them all the time."
