Central Michigan University
3-5, 0-1ASUN
Kennesaw State
5-2, 1-0ASUN
Chippewas Hold Off Kennesaw State For First League Win
3/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Lacrosse
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Fans greeted and cheered for the Central Michigan women's lacrosse team as they headed to the locker room following their 17-16 win against Kennesaw State on Sunday at the CMU Lacrosse-Soccer Stadium.
The Chippewas collected their first Atlantic Sun win as they finished their league opening weekend 1-1 after their loss to Mercer on Friday. CMU is 4-5 overall, 1-1 ASUN. The Owls, who came in riding a five-game win streak, fell to 5-3, 1-1 ASUN.
"Here it is, a miserable day in terms of weather conditions and none of that matters," CMU coach Sara Tisdale said. "You would've thought by the way they played that it was beautiful and 70 degrees outside. That shows a lot of composure. Experience is a tough teacher, so we'll take this one and make sure we learn a lot from it."
Emma Hamilton had the hot stick with five goals to lead Central Michigan. Jocelyne Lemay, Tyra Prince and Shannon Doyle each recorded a hat trick as well for CMU.
"We never lost momentum," Tisdale said. "I think they believed from the very beginning. I challenged them at the early outset of the game to play for someone beside yourself today. Look to the left, to the right. If everybody is playing for somebody else it's going to be a great game."
It was an offensive battle from the start with the teams trading goals back and forth throughout. The deficit never swelled to more than three when the Chippewas led 12-9 after a goal by Riley Huda with 5:36 remaining in the first half. The sophomore leads CMU in points with 29 (10 goals, 19 assists).
Doyle broke a 13-13 tie with a goal at the 17:30 mark and the Chippewas never trailed again, holding off the charging Owls.
Dominique Hamman replaced Hope Murray in the cage for Central Michigan 26:41 into the game. She would save three in her 20 minutes of play. Murray returned for the Chippewas halfway through the second, saving a total of 13.
"Both goalies, I think, were having a harder time seeing the ball today," Tisdale said. "Kennesaw likes to pack it in, so there's a lot of interference in front of the goalies, so neither of them were really seeing it well.
"It's nice to have two goalies you can put in to those situations so that they can each take a moment to gather themselves. You saw Hope come back in stronger than she started."
Taylor McGhee recorded five goals to lead Kennesaw State.
Central Michigan will play host to Coastal Carolina in an ASUN matchup on Friday (5 p.m.). The Chanticleers are 4-4, 1-0 ASUN.
