Sept. 9, 2005
Northwestern, 4 Central Michigan, 2
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- It was a tale of two halves for Northwestern's field hockey team, as they rushed out to a 4-0 lead in the first half, but let Central Michigan creep back into the game in the second frame. The Wildcats came away with the win in the end, beating the Chippewas 4-2 Friday, Sept. 9, at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex.
The 'Cats started out red hot, controlling the ball as well as the game's tempo. Ellen Schlafly (St. Louis, Mo./MICDS) put Northwestern on the board first. Following a Wildcats' shot, Northwestern sophomore Cassie Miller (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) controlled the rebound and tipped it to Schlafly who sent it to the back of the goal.
Seven minutes later, another Wildcats veteran would score. As the Chippewas came down on offense, senior Holly Palin (Mequon, Wis./University School of Milwaukee) stole the ball away from the Central Michigan player and streaked down the near sideline. It was a two-on-one breakaway situation with Megan Sieberg (Toledo, Ohio/Maumee Valley Country Day) running on the other side. Palin passed it to Sieberg who passed it back once the defender closed in. Palin put the shot past CMU goaltender Danielle Frank to put the `Cats up by two.
Freshman Jill Putnam (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) made the score 3-0, as she took a pass from Christina Foley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) coming off of a penalty corner.
Putnam notched her fourth goal on the season only six minutes later. This time, she took a Meghan Small (Bethlehem, Pa./Moravian Academy) pass from the top of the circle and tipped it in passed Frank.
Northwestern went into halftime leading 4-0, and outshooting the Cheppewas 13-5.
CMU came out of the break ready to establish itself on offense. The Chippewas came out shooting, but had a hard time putting the ball passed Northwestern goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna Secondary), who had five of her seven saves in the second period.
The Chippewas finally light up their end of the scoreboard at 60:15, as Kelly Jordan took an Alicia Balanesi pass and sent it home through traffic.
1:48 later, the Chippewas struck again. This time, Balanesi was on the scoring end, putting an Erica Takach pass by Northwestern goalie Kelly Augustine (Northampton, Pa./Northampton).
In the end, however, the Wildcats' defense held, and the 'Cats walked away with the victory. The Wildcats now stand at 3-1, and will be back in action at home against Virginia at 1 p.m., on Sunday, Sept. 11.