Tuesday's Scoreboard
UC Davis 2, Central Michigan 0
Stories Courtesy of CMU Sports Information
UC Davis 2, Central Michigan 0
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan field hockey team fell to UC Davis, 2-0, on Tuesday morning in a nonconference game at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
How It Happened
UC Davis seized the lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter on a Sara Janetzky goal, which came off a penalty corner.
Just before halftime, the Aggies were able to draw a penalty stroke, sending Madison Theodore to take the shot. Theodore capitalized to make it 2-0.
"We let them take an early lead and we could never recover from that," CMU coach Catherine Ostoich said. "We played catchup the whole game and couldn't quite figure it out."
The Chippewas were unable to create many opportunities throughout the match, as UC Davis finished with a 20-6 edge in shots.
With just over six minutes left in the game, CMU drew a penalty stroke, but freshman standout Alice O'Hagan'sattempt missed wide right, and the Chippewas were unable to mount a comeback in the final minutes.
Offensive Woes
After starting the season 2-0 behind strong offensive play, the Chippewas have not found the same offensive magic during their three-game losing streak.
"Of course it's something we can fix," Ostoich said. "We just couldn't generate an attack because we couldn't get it up the field, we couldn't make crisp passes; just things we've got to do better at next time."
While Ostoich touched on the technical struggles, she also said that games can be decided by a team's mentality.
"I think that UC Davis wanted it more than us today," she said. "You know, we wanted it, but they were the first to every ball today."
Resilient Goalkeeping
Though CMU was outshot by a large margin and UC Davis dominated possession for the majority of the game, the Chippewas were able to keep it close largely due to impressive goalkeeping from Keelin Broeker and Abigail Ebersole, who combined to make nine saves.
"They did a great job," said Ostoich. "They had a couple of tough shots where they did really well, but again, (UC Davis) shouldn't have had that many shots. I'm happy that they showed up to play, but the rest of us have to show up as a team."
Next
CMU will take on a pair of Big Ten opponents this weekend, first traveling to Columbus, Ohio on Friday (4 p.m.) to take on the 14th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. CMU returns home to host the seventh-ranked Michigan on Sunday (1 p.m.) at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
