Central Michigan University Athletics
Home Opener Friday For Unbeaten CMU Soccer Team
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - There's a buzz in the air about Central Michigan women's soccer.
Balls in the net and numbers in the win column have a tendency to do that.
The Chippewas, off to their first 2-0 start since 2012, will make their home debut Friday (6 p.m.) at the CMU Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium when they take on Youngstown State (1-0) in a non-conference game. CMU entertains Kansas State, which is 0-1 in its first year as a varsity program, on Sunday (1 p.m.).
CMU opened last weekend with a 2-0 win at Duquesne and a 3-1 victory at Robert Morris.
"The energy of the team is really good," said Peter McGahey, who is in his fourth year as the Chippewas' coach. "How confident are we as a team? I think we feel good about accomplishing what we set out to do last weekend, and now we have a task ahead for this weekend.
"And we'll continue to grow and instill that confidence and the belief that they have in each other this week."
Sophomore Alexis Pelafas scored two goals in each of those victories. Her four goals ties her for the national lead, and she is the reigning Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
"As a team we've been working really well together and we've been really dedicated and committed to the process on the whole," Pelafas said.
Clearly, it has paid dividends.
The Chippewas outshot Duquesne and Robert Morris by a combined 39-21.
"This early in the season you have to be very careful not to get ahead of yourself," McGahey said. "The performances that we put forth, this early in the season, were good. Early in the season you want to make sure that you're creating a process and building your identity as a team so that they have things that we feel that we can do well moving forward."
Freshman Marle Bringard had two assists last weekend, and leads the Mid-American Conference in that category. CMU senior goalkeeper Kristen Knutson, who did not appear in a game for the Chippewas until the opener at Duquesne, is 2-0 with one shutout and a 0.50 goals against average.
Sophomore Zoie Reed, the starter a year ago, is the backup for the time being, which gives McGahey the luxury of two solid keepers.
"Kristen, in a very similar way to Lexi, has really put in a good process since last fall to really sort of grow, enhance and improve her game," McGahey said. "I think Zoie is a wonderful goalkeeper and she's going to win some games for us this season and we're really going to count on her, but I think Kristen has done a good job of coming in ready, being a fifth-year senior, having a maturity level.
"Kristen brings a management, a calming presence, a disciplined presence that we're asking of that position. And she happens to be bringing those things, we feel like, the best right now. I certainly believe in Zoie as well, but right now Kristen is bringing to the table the pieces of the puzzle that we need."
Pelafas' success certainly will earn her more attention from opponents going forward, McGahey said. Two games in, the Chippewas are far from a finished product, and there are plenty of other weapons in the arsenal.
"The best part is I think she has good character, she understands the position really well," McGahey said. "I think she's also team-first enough that if she doesn't score and the results stay the same, she'll be OK with it.
"We have other tools and other exciting dynamic players with other talents within this team. The other tools are right there, you just happen to have right now a story within the team that's really sort of high-end, which I think is great and she deserves all the accolades that she can get. The piece for me is we can get back to work knowing that we have some team tools that we can build on."
