Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
6-10, 2-6ASUN
Old Dominion
14-3, 7-1ASUN
Lacrosse Falls In Season Finale
5/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Lacrosse
Zach Libby, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- It could be that less-than-pleasurable weather conditions promote near-perfect offensive results for Old Dominion, or it could simply be the fact that the Monarchs proved why they are among the elite in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Old Dominion outshot the Chippewas, 22-1 in the first half and 40-11 for the game on Sunday in topping Central Michigan, 17-8, in the final game of the Chippewas' season at the chilly CMU Lacrosse-Soccer Stadium.
The loss concluded CMU's inaugural season of varsity women's lacrosse. The Chippewas finished 6-10 overall, 2-6 Atlantic Sun. Old Dominion is 14-3, 7-1. The Monarchs led, 9-1, at halftime.
Jocelyne Lemay, Anna Schoonover and Summer Abdalla scored two goals each for the Chippewas, while Riley Huda and Kaitlin Kimble added one apiece.
What head coach Sara Tisdale admired during the weekend matinee was seeing more aggressiveness from her offense in the final 30 minutes. CMU took 10 shots in the second half, despite winning just seven draw controls for entire contest, compared to Old Dominion's 20.
"We had equal possessions to start the game, for their four goals, we had four opportunities but we were just a little gun shy," Tisdale said. "They were throwing that backer at us (and) I think it was a little intimidating. It's hard to practice and replicate that, so for us, once we got comfortable in the second half, that was much better than what we expected."
CMU goaltender Dominique Hamman recorded 14 saves. The CMU defense finished at 88 percent (16-for-18) in defensive clearing.
"We played up to a good level (defensively)," Tisdale said. "I thought we handled the fast break well, especially in the first three quarters of the game. If we think about those four possessions, if those resulted in one or two (CMU) goals, it would have been a different tale in this game."
CMU finished the season 4-3 at home, highlighted by two straight victories during the opening weekend an 11-10 overtime win over Stetson, and a dramatic 6-5 win over Virginia Commonweath.
That game ended with Lemay scoring the game-winner with under a minute remaining. That result, Tisdale said, helped the Chippewas prove to opponents - and themselves - that they would not be a pushover.
"Knowing how excited (the players) were to know that they could close out a game like that against a quality opponent, it was a confidence booster and it was one that people took note," she said.
The confidence grew to a level such that it was legitimately disappointing when the Chippewas dropped games last weekend at Kennesaw State and Mercer, the second of which officially eliminated CMU from Atlantic Sun Tournament contention.
Along the way, the Chippewas heard the profusion of positive clamor from opposing coaches and players.
"That has been a huge boost to us as a staff and to our program to know that we're doing it the right way and that's something I pride myself on," Tisdale said. "Coaches will walk away and say, 'Wow that's a great team and they're going to be a great opponent in the future.'"
