Central Michigan University Athletics
Field Hockey Opens Friday At Vermont
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
BURLINGTON, Vt. - True, it was just a scrimmage.
But Molly Pelowski saw plenty of encouraging signs as she watched her Central Michigan field hockey team beat Toronto, 4-3, on Tuesday at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
At the top of the list: Offense. The four goals was double what the Chippewas scored in any single game a year ago, Pelowski's first season at the helm.
"We were able to get a lot of people some playing experience," said Pelowski, whose team opens the season Friday (2 p.m.) at Vermont. "We scored a lot of goals. We were able to get our goalkeeper game-tested. There were a lot of positive learning moments. I'm feeling like we're in a great position moving into (Friday's) match."
The Chippewas, who finished 2-15 last season, take on Vermont (4-16 in 2015) at the Catamounts' Molton Winder Field. CMU will play La Salle, which went 9-9 a year ago, on the same field on Saturday (1 p.m.).
"Who's not excited about opening day?" Pelowski said. "Everybody's amped up and ready to play and get the season off to a great start. I think if we focus on the process and take care of those things, the win will take care of itself."
Chippewa goalkeeper Lily Amadio, a sophomore, was among the many CMU players who saw extended playing time, some for the for the first time in their collegiate careers, against Toronto.
Without question, there will be tinkering and adjustments along the way, Pelowski said, but on the whole, she said she is happy with where her team sits on the eve of the opener.
"I'm really pleased with how we played in the midfield (against Toronto)," she said. "When we moved the ball well we generated a lot of attacks. We were able to control the tempo.
"I think we need to brush up on our team defense a little more. We figured out where our weaknesses were there and we made the changes to get ready for tomorrow."
