Game Preview! Chippewas vs. Cardinals!!

With the season coming to an end, the Chippewas only have a conference match-up against Ball State remaining. The two teams have had a difficult season, with both teams being at the bottom of the MAC. The Chippewas are entering the game with a 1-15 record overall, while the Cardinals are 2-14.

Photo Credit: kentuckysportsradio.com

Coming off a 3-0 loss to the number eight team in the country, Louisville, in Louisville, KY, the Chippewas are hoping to send their seniors out on a winning note. Two of those seniors, Kaysie Gregory and Sadie Lynn Reynolds, have been a few of the bright spots this season, and have played well for the Chippewas throughout their careers.

In a recent article on CM-Life the two commented on what they will miss from playing at Central Michigan, and Reynolds said,
"I'm going to miss the girls a lot, especially my class. We've been playing with each other for four years, going through struggles together, seeing each other succeed, and together winning a MAC Championship. We've became a really good support system for each other."

Photo Credit: wndu.com

And later in that article, Gregory comments,
"I'll miss always having a support group and always having someone there. I will miss how hilarious every single one is in my class. We've been through our fair share of good times and bad times. When it comes down to it, we always have each others' backs. If I ever needed someone, I can always turn to (one of the seniors)."

With these two players leading the Chippewas, and the connection senior class, look for Friday's game to be a good match-up. The game will take place at Ball State University in, Muncie Ind, at 3:00 p.m. E.T

By: Michael Greenwood

Chippewas Seek Strong Finish to Season

  A year removed from being the number one seed in the MAC tournament, the story line is very different this time around for the Central Michigan Chippewas.  Sitting on a 1-15 overall record following yesterdays 3-0 loss at Louisville, the Chips will not be returning to the MAC tournament this year due to their less than stellar 1-4 conference record.  The Chippewas do have one game remaining and it is against conference opponent Ball State this Friday, October 30th at 3pm in Muncie, Indiana.  The Ball State Cardinals come into the game with a 2-14 overall record and 0-4 in the MAC.  Central Michigan came out on top in last years matchup against Ball State with a final score of 2-0.  The Chips will try to repeat that performance this year and end their season strong with a statement win to ease some of the pain from a tough season.  Senior midfielder Kaysie Gregory (#11) continues to lead the Chippewas in scoring with seven goals and two assists, good for 16 points.  Senior goaltender Sadie Lynn Reynolds (#26) will look to continue her strong play as well and help lead the Chips to a final win.  

By: Isaac Bessey

Sunday Recap

     All the scoring came in the second half Sunday as the Louisville Cardinals out shot the Chippewa's 26-2 handing them a 3-0 non-conference loss. Senior goal keeper, Sadie Reynolds was credited with 10 saves against the Cardinals. With the season coming to an end Friday, the Chips travel to Ball State for a Mid-American Conference game. Both teams are 1-4 in league play and hope to close out the year with a win.
                                                                     By: Arya Haritash

Learn the Lingo

Although field hockey has in fact gained traction and coverage in more recent years in the United States, the sport itself is still fairly new and pretty much unknown to a vast majority of the population. Many people have a general idea what the sport entails, a field, players with sticks and a ball; however, they lack the specific lingo to be able to fully keep up with a game. Learn some of the slang and lingo below:

Bully: following a stop in play, placing the ball on the ground between one player from each team to neutrally restart the play

Drawing: when either an offensive player tries to pull a defender out of position or the defender tries to pull an offensive player offside

The “D”: formed by the striking circle joining the goal line

Flick: raising a pushed ball off the ground

Hacking: a foul for stick interference

Jab: attempting to make the player in possession of the ball lose possession by poking at it

Pitch: the field

Reverse Sticks: turning a stick so the player is enabled to push the ball in the same direction

Upper V: the corners of the top of the goal

Watered-Down: soaking the turn which allows the surface to better “hold” the ball

If you are interested in getting in a more in-depth description of the lingo explained above, or if you are interested in learning about even more field hockey lingo check out the links below.

Momsteam.com

Prettytough.com

Fieldhockey.isport.com

Photo Credit: Central Michigan University Athletics

By: Halle Sobczak

Weekend Wrap Up

The CMU women's field hockey team returned to action this weekend with two games, against conference opponent Missouri State and an in-state match against the University of Michigan. The Chippewas got off to hot start on Friday winning their first game of the season, a 1-0 victory in a double overtime thriller against Missouri State. The win bumped the Chippewas to 1-12 on the season and 1-3 in conference play. It was the first win for first year head coach Molly Pelowski. The lone goal was scored by junior Maude Stalars. Sunday brought the final home game of the Chippewas' season against 14th ranked Michigan. The game had a personal significance for Coach Pelowski as the University of Michigan is her alma mater. Unfortunately the Chippewas could not overcome one of the country's best teams and fell 4-0. Now the Chippewas head on the road for their final three games, including two league games against Miami Ohio and Ball State. Should the Chippewas win those two games they would still make the MAC conference tournament.




By: Dylan Cody

Senior comes up Big for the Chips!

Although the Chippewas have struggled offensively this season, their defense has been able to keep them in many of the games. Behind goal keeper, Sadie Lynn Reynolds, the team has only allowed double-digit goals once, in a 10-3 loss to Delaware, in the first game of the season.

As a junior, she received Second Team All-Mac Honors, as well leading the conference in saves (153), saves per game (8.05), and save percentage (.739). Also, in the 2014 season, Sadie registered two shutouts, for a team who went on to win the MAC.

Although Reynolds, a senior from Prospect, KY, has seen a decline in some of her numbers from a year ago, it's games like today's, where she demonstrated her importance to the team. With the Chippewas entering the game with a 0-12 record, they were in need of a spark, and Reynolds answered the call. In a game that went into double over-time, Sadie stopped everything Missouri State shot at her, recording her first shutout of the season, in a 1-0 win.

Using this game as momentum, the Chippewas are looking forward to hosting Michigan at home, this Sunday at 12:00 p.m., with much of the story line for this game revolving around head coach, Molly Pelowski, who was the goal keeper for the Wolverines from 2000-2004. 

Photo Credit: cmuchippewas.com

By: Michael Greenwood

Leader of the pack

While the Chippewas’ season may not be off to the start the team had originally hoped for, certain members of the women’s field hockey team are standing out and leading the way towards what they hope will be a brighter second half.

If you have had a chance to check out the stats for the previous games this season, you will notice that the team has a number of members consistently placing on top of the various categories. However, there is one reoccurring name, which is standing out by leading more categories than just one – Kaysie Gregory (#11). The senior midfielder from Rome, New York currently leads the team in four of the five categories, and serves as runner-up for the additional one.

Here is an update on how Gregory's season has continued moving forward since our "Player to Watch!!" feature. As of October 11, she leads the team in number of points (16), number of goals (7), number of shots (24) and number of shots on goal (17). In addition, she is the runner-up, behind senior Kianne Hinkle, for the number of assists (2).

If Gregory continues down this track for the remainder of the season it is very likely that she will beat her stats from the 2014-2015 season. Last season, she tied for the number of team points (19), finished second in goals (6) and led the team in assists (7).

By: Halle Sobczak

The future may be now

With the field hockey season more than half over, things can only start to get better. Though the team is still searching for its first win of the season, the games have been competitive. Senior goal keeper Sadie Reynolds keeps games close, logging almost a thousand minutes on the year that still has many games remaining. She helped the team keep up with #20 Iowa on Sunday for most of the game until Iowa ran away at the end winning 4-1. With the leading scorer and shot taker Kaysie Gregory also being a senior, the team will have to mold the younger and inexperienced players to be the as good or better than those that are leaving the team after this season is over. The team has 5 games remaining  on the schedule, with a win less record, the younger players may start to see an increased roll to gain experience for next season.

Life as the underdogs

It is not hidden knowledge that the CMU field hockey team has had a tough season up to this point.

With Sunday’s game against Kent State ending the same way every other game has this season for the Chippewas, bringing their conference record to 0-3, it would be easy for them to simply give up hope.

However, first-year coach Molly Pelowski is not ready to give up anytime soon.

"Nothing changes for us in terms of the way we approach every game," Pelowski said in an interview with Central Michigan University Athletic Communications. "We're out there to play to win."

Although their conference record does not allow the Chippewas much of a chance at earning a spot in the MAC Tournament, Pelowski has made it clear that it will not change how hard the team plans to fight for the remainder of the season.

In fact, the head coach has high hopes that the Chippewas unsuccessful record up to this point in the season could in fact work to their advantage in the coming games.

"We're spoilers now. I think people overlook us," Pelowski said. "They [competitors] look at our record and don't really appreciate the talent that we do have. That puts us in a great position to ruin someone's day."

The Chippewas have six games left of their regular season before tournament play begins, with three of their remaining opponents being members of the Mid-American Conference.

Photo Credit: CM Life

By: Halle Sobczak

Weekend Wrap Up

Central Michigan's field hockey team had a full slate of games this past weekend, with contests on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Thursday saw the Chippewas lose to the Boxers of Pacific University 3-0. Goalie Sadie Lynn Reynolds had seven saves in the game. During Friday's game Central lost to Ohio University 3-1. The lone goal was scored by Kaysie Gregory with two minutes left, her team-leading seventh of the season. In Sunday's finale, the Chippewas dropped a heartbreaker to Kent State, 1-0. The loss dropped CMU to 0-3 on the weekend, 0-11 on the year, and 0-3 in conference play. Goalie Sadie Lynn Reynolds had 12 saves in the game. The Chippewas will have a week long break before 18th ranked Iowa comes to Mt. Pleasant next Sunday at noon.