Central Michigan University
Youngstown State
Chippewas Strike Early, Remain Unbeaten
8/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - It didn't take long for Central Michigan soccer fans to see, in person, what they've been hearing about.
Alexis Pelafas set the tone less than three minutes in Friday, scoring her fifth goal of the season in sparking the Chippewas to a 3-1 non-conference victory over Youngstown State in their home opener before a good-sized crowd at the CMU Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium.
"We have the goal to score in the first 10 minutes every time," said Pelafas, a sophomore who entered the weekend sharing the national lead in goals scored. "After we scored the first goal we pushed harder, and the grit was there again tonight.
"We were so pumped to play at home. We wanted to show tonight what we're made of and the passion and the love that we have for the game as a team."
CMU improved to 3-0-0 and is off to its best start in recent memory. The Chippewas play host to Kansas State on Sunday at 1 p.m. Youngstown State is 1-1-0.
Pelafas scored off a scramble in front of Youngstown State goalkeeper Katie Montgomery. The play started on a corner kick, one of CMU's eight in the match. The Penguins finished with two.
Taylor Potts and Madison Costner also scored. It was the first goal of the season for both.
Potts' goal came on a Jamie Rademacher assist in the 28th minute, and the sequence started with a corner kick. Coster scored in the 44th minute, tucking the ball past Montgomery on a severe angle from the right of the goal.
"I think the team was really excited to play tonight, at home, in front of a very good crowd - lots of Chippewa faithful out tonight," CMU coach Peter McGahey said. "We jumped on them early which I thought was really good. And to capitalize on a set piece, twice in a row for (the first two) goals was really quite good. Set the tone for the day."
Senior Kristen Knutson and sophomore Zoie Reed split the match in goal for the Chippewas, who outshot the Penguins 16-10 - including 10-2 in the first half -- and controlled the game from the get-go.
Youngstown State's goal came in the 87th minute on an Ernestina Abambila free kick.
"Hats off defensively," McGahey said. "I thought it was a really good organized effort and I think that's a place of where that discipline and organization as we go forward will only get sharper.
"For the first 75 minutes or so I thought we were really quite sharp and really limited their chances. The last 20 minutes or so I thought Youngstown did a good job of scratching and clawing. Hats off to them. I thought their competitiveness was really good. I think our competitiveness in the second half is something we can work on."
