Miami Ohio University Athletics
RedHawks Open MAC Field Hockey Action This Weekend
9/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 18, 2001
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THIS WEEKEND'S CONTESTS: The RedHawks enter Mid-American Conference action this weekend with a 2-5 record. Miami has lost its last five contests, its latest setback coming to Stanford at home, 4-0. The Red and White also have lost to Syracuse, St. Louis, Dartmouth and California. The RedHawks' two victories this season were against Indiana and Lehigh.
Central Michigan (2-2) enters its conference opener against Miami after splitting its first four contests. CMU won its opener against Northwestern, 2-1, and then stumbled against SW Missouri State, 2-1. Its second win was a 2-0 shutout of St. Louis, after which the Chippewas lost to Virginia, 7-1. CMU has not played since the Virginia contest on Sept. 2, 19 days ago.
In a contest that was previously schedule for 1 p.m., the RedHawks square off against Ball State (3-1) at 11 a.m. in Muncie, Ind. The Cardinals have registered victories over Hofstra, Northwestern and Stanford this season while losing to Iowa. In four games Ball State has outscored its opponent 5-2 while recording two shut outs.
MIAMI'S LAST TIME OUT: For just the fifth time in the program's history, Miami has lost five games in a row. Its latest setback came at the hands of Stanford on Sept. 13, 4-0. The defeat also dropped Miami's record to 17-7 in home openers.
Stanford senior Melissa Stai and junior Liz Ott each had a goal and an assist in the Cardinal 4-0 romp over Miami. The Cardinal (4-6) out-shot Miami 24-4 and allowed only three penalty corners.
The two schools took a moment of silence prior to the game in light of last week's tragic events. Shortly after the opening pass-back, Stanford scored the contest's first goal. Stai gave Stanford the 1-0 advantage when she received a pass from Ott and put the ball past Miami's goalkeeper, senior Marie Vaughn (Davis, Calif./Davis), for her third goal of the season. Moments later Stanford almost scored its second goal, but junior tri-captain Julie Nelson (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) stopped the ball from going into the goal to record her first defensive save of the season.
With 8:22 remaining in the first stanza, the Cardinal stretched its lead to 2-0 when senior Erica Swesey misdirected an errant shot into the goal. The hitter of the initial shot, junior Christina Williams, was credited with the assist.
Stanford continued to press its offense in the second half and subsequently dominated the period. Ott tallied the Cardinal' third goal of the game at the 24:25 mark and junior Amanda Billmyer added an insurance goal, Stanford's fourth, with 13:24 remaining in the contest. In addition to out-shooting the RedHawks, Stanford took 14 penalty corners to Miami's three.
It was the fourth shutout Miami has suffered in the last five games. The RedHawks have failed to score a goal since a first period tally against Dartmouth, a span of 201:45.
LAST TIME VERSUS CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Miami shocked the Chippewas last season in the first round of the MAC Tournament with a 4-2 victory. Carrying the RedHawks on her back was sophomore Angie Snedden (Sarnia, Ontario), who recorded her first career hat trick in the victory. Snedden scored the game-winning goal with 3:14 left in the game when she took a pass from Meghan Phalen and poked it into the back of the net, breaking a 2-2 tie. She completed her hat trick with a goal at the 1:13 mark. Snedden also was credited with an assist on Miami's second goal by Kari Roche.
SCOUTING THE CHIPPEWAS: Leading the charge for Central Michigan is senior Melissa Lazarevski. A first-team all-MAC selection in 2000, Lazarevski leads the Chippewas with two goals and one assist. She also has accounted for 13 of CMU's 27 shot attempts. Helping out on the offensive end of the field for Central Michigan is sophomore Krystal Yee. Yee is the only other multiple goal scorer for the Chippewas, with two tallies. Junior Janel Spero has started all four games for the Chippewas in goal and maintains a 2.29 goals against average.
LAST TIME VERSUS BALL STATE: The RedHawks upped their record to 5-13 with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Cardinals last season. The win marked only the second time in school history, and the first time since 1978-79, the Red and White had collected two consecutive victories over the Cardinals. Miami was led by captains Kari Roche and senior Beth Young (Toledo, Ohio/Maumee Valley C.D.) in the 4-3 victory. Roche ended the marathon with her second goal of the contest with 7:28 remaining in overtime, while Young finished with two goals and one assist.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: In four games this season Ball State has scored only five goals. Sophomore Afton Hess accounts for two of those goals, while juniors Monika Rhode, Allison Haynes and Jenn Budney have each tallied one. Junior Susan McDowell has kept Ball State in several contests by playing well in goal. Through four games she has a 0.49 goals against average and has recorded two shutouts.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Miami shares a common opponent with both Ball State and Central Michigan going into this weekend's contests. Here's how the three teams fared against common foes St. Louis and Stanford:
Opponent Miami Ball State Central MichiganLEE-DING THE REDHAWKS: Freshman Meredith Lee (San Jose, Calif./Lynbrook) became the RedHawks' leading goal-scorer during the St. Louis trip with her strike against the Dartmouth Big Green. In a span of five games for Miami, Lee scored two goals and recorded one assist. Lee single-handedly has accounted for five of the RedHawks' last nine points. Lee also recorded a defensive save in Miami's 2-1 victory over Lehigh.
Stanford L, 0-4 W, 1-0 Cancelled
St. Louis L, 0-2 NA W, 2-0
SHOTS=GOALS, GOALS=WINS: Through seven games this season the RedHawks have been outshot by their opponent, 122-36. Consequently, Miami also is on the short side when it comes to scoring. This season Miami opponents have out-scored the RedHawks 15-5. In its two wins, Miami scored four goals to its opponents' two. Since then the RedHawks have lost five straight contests and have been outscored 13-1.
COACH FESPERMAN CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Fesperman is in her 25th year as the head coach of the RedHawks. Through the years, she has compiled a 228-214-17 record. Fesperman has produced 16 regional all-Americans and 63 all-Mid-American Conference selections. She guided Miami to the first MAC Championship in 1981 and was selected MAC Coach of the Year the same year. Fesperman graduated cum laude from Appalachian State University with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. She was a three-year member of the ASU field hockey team and was voted Most Valuable Player her senior year.
REDHAWKS IN ROAD OPENERS: Miami has an all-time record 7-15-3 (.340) in road-opening games. This season the RedHawks were victorious in their road-opener versus Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., 2-1.
REDHAWKS IN SEASON OPENERS: In their August 26 season-opener versus Indiana, the RedHawks improved their all-time season-opener record to 13-11-1 with a 2-1 victory. This victory ended Miami's two-year streak of losing its season-opener, with both losses coming to Ohio State in 1999 and 2000.
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE REDHAWKS: Senior Beth Young and sophomore Angie Snedden return in 2001 as the only all-league performers for Miami from last season. For the second consecutive season, Young was named to the 2001 all-MAC second-team after scoring six goals and tallying eight hand-outs. She finished the season as the second-leading scorer for Miami with 20 points. Joining Young on the all-MAC second-team was Snedden, who led the RedHawks with 13 goals and two assists. She led the squad with 28 points and topped the season off with a hat trick versus Central Michigan in the MAC Tourney and was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts. The only all-league performer lost from last season is 2001 graduate, Kari Roche. Roche tied Young with 20 points after scoring seven times and recording six assists.
RISING TO THE TOP: Senior goalkeeper Marie Vaughn continued her ascent last season up Miami's top 10 for career shutouts. She is now in a tie for sixth place with nine shutouts heading into her final season with the Red and White.
RECORD WATCH: Senior Beth Young currently has 20 career goals at Miami after three years. She needs only one more goal to move into the top 10 for career goals at Miami. If she continues to score at her current pace, she will finish her career with 27 goals in a tie for sixth on the all-time charts. Young is only two points away from moving into the top 10 all-time at Miami for career points with 52. She has 49 career points after registering an assist in Miami's contest at Indiana on Aug. 26.
YOUNG, PREIKSZAS AND NELSON TAKE CAPTAIN DUTIES IN 2001: Seniors Karen Preikszas (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) and Beth Young, and junior Julie Nelson (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda Chevy Chase) will serve as captains for the 2001 season. Young is serving her second stint as a team captain, she was co-captain in 2000 with Kari Roche, while Preikszas and Nelson are captaining the RedHawks for the first time in their careers.
SNEDDEN'S 28 POINTS ONE OF MIAMI'S BEST: Last season as a freshman, Angie Snedden registered one of the strongest seasons in Miami field hockey history. Her 13 goals and two assists gave her 28 points, good enough to tie for ninth on the Miami top 10 for points in a single season. The season record for points is held by Kathy Kiernan, '85, who registered 57 points in 1983.
FIVE NAMED TO THE NFHCA NATIONAL ACADEMIC SQUAD: Seniors Cheryl Iozzi, Karen Preikszas and Beth Young and sophomores Kate Carmody (St. Louis, Mo./Villa Duchesne) and Lauren Plapp (Overland Park, Kan./The Barstow School) were named to the academic squad in late February, 2001. The NFHCA National Academic Squad recognizes student-athletes who excel both on the field and in the classroom. To be considered for the squad, a player must earn a varsity letter and achieve at least a 3.0 grade point average.
SNEDDEN COMPETES IN 2001 CANADIAN GAMES: Coach Fesperman had to let her all-MAC peformer Snedden go during preseason practices to compete in the 2001 Canadian Games, held Aug. 13-17. Snedden, who hails from Ontario, competed for the Ontario National Team and helped her squad to a silver medal finish. A fierce competitor, Snedden tallied two goals for her team including one in their semifinal victory over Saskatchewan, 4-1. Her other goal was in a 2-1 victory over Alberta.
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA: Miami's field hockey team features athletes from all over the country, spanning from Massachusetts to California. The RedHawks come from nine different states and two different countries.
SLATTERY AND RODELO TO REDSHIRT: Senior Lisa Rodelo (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual) and sophomore Lauren Slattery (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) will sit out this campaign as medical redshirts. A goalkeeper for the RedHawks, Rodelo had back surgery over the summer and will save her eligibility for next season. Slattery had reconstructive knee surgery during the offseason, which is why she will not play in 2001.
FRESH FACES AND STICKS: Eight RedHawks on this year's squad are in their first season of varsity field hockey, many of whom will be seeing significant playing time. "This year's freshmen class comes from a broad range of successful high school programs," said Fesperman. "I expect to see several of them make an impact on this year's squad." The freshmen include Sara Bielek (Mentor, Ohio/The Andrews School), Diane Collias (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park & River Forest), Maya Gilbert (Kent, Ohio/Kent Roosevelt), Meredith Lee (San Jose, Calif./Lynbrook), Gillian Lindsay (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights), Katie Moran (St. Louis, Mo./Nerinx Hall), Kerri Orr (San Diego, Calif./Serra) and Megan Wiegand (Encinitas, Calif./LaCosta Canyon).
