Field Hockey Hosts Central Michigan
9/8/2000 9:51:44 PM | Field Hockey
The Orangewomen bring a 2-1 record into their contest against Central Michigan today. Syracuse beat Albany, 3-0, in the season and home opener on August 30. The Orangewomen travelled to Newark, Delaware last weekend and split two games at the Blue Hen Tournament. They defeated Delaware, 3-2, and lost to Ball State, 1-0, the next day.
This will be the second meeting between Syracuse and Central Michigan. The Orangewomen won the first meeting in their 1997 season opener, 5-0.
Kathleen Parker is in her 23rd season as head coach at Syracuse. Her career record is 241-154-14.
Senior midfielder Colleen Cech is the Orangewomens leading scorer with six points (two goals, two assists). She is the sixth-leading scorer in the BIG EAST Conference. Cech tallied a career-high two goals and one assist in the victory against Albany. Both of her goals in that game were scored within 1:23 of one another. In the triumph against Delaware, Cech assisted on SUs second goal of the first half, off a penalty corner.
Sophomore goalkeeper Audrey Latsko recorded the third shutout of her career against Albany. She made six saves, including five in the first half to preserve the 3-0 blanking. In the win against Delaware, Latsko again had six saves. Latsko owns of a 1.00 goals against average and an .813 save percentage.
Fifth-year senior forward Laura Fitzpatrick scored the fourth game-winning goal of her career against Delaware last Saturday. With the score tied at 2-2, Fitzpatrick knocked home a rebound off a penalty corner with 11:21 remaining in the contest. It marked her first goal of the season and the eventual game-winner. Fitzpatrick assisted on an earlier goal that put SU ahead, 2-0. Fitzpatrick has returned to Syracuses starting lineup after missing the entire 1999 season because of a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in her left knee. She was an All-BIG EAST First-Team selection as a junior, an All-BIG EAST Second-Team selection as a sophomore and the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year in 1996.
Sophomore midfielder Michelle Marks looked strong in her first three performances of the year for SU. Marks scored in both the Albany and Delaware games.
The two new faces in the Syracuse starting lineup this year are juniors Missy Grosman and Caylyn Dicruttalo. Missy, the teams starting sweeper, joined the field hockey team this spring after playing two seasons of basketball at SU. She is not completely new to the sport. She was an All-State performer at Emmaus High School, the same high school that starting goalie Audrey Latsko attended. Dicruttalo raised her level of play a notch to secure one of the starting forward positions.
With Syracuse trailing Ball State, 1-0, late in the game last Sunday, Coach Parker opted to use goalie Audrey Latsko as a field player to help on the attack. This is perfectly legal within the rules of field hockey. The rule states that if a team pulls its goalie in favor of a field player, that player must don a different color jersey and protective headgear to serve as the keeper.
Central Michigan Notes
Central Michigan (1-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) will play two games at Coyne Field this weekend. After playing Syracuse today, CMU faces Albany on Sun., Sept. 10 at noon.
Head coach Cristy Freese is in her 15th season leading the Chippewa field hockey team. Freese, who won MAC Coach of the Year honors in 1987 and 1989, led the Chippewas to a third-place finish in the MAC in 1998. Freese led CMU to its first MAC title in 1990 and her teams have been in the MAC title game four times and the semifinals three other times. She has a 102-154-6 record with the Chippewas.
The Chippewas opened the year with a 3-0 win against Southwest Missouri State on Aug. 26. Krystal Yee, Katie Coccia and Melissa Lazarevski were responsible for the goals. Janel Spero got credit for her second career shutout.
The Chippewas fell to Ohio State, 9-0, on Aug. 30. OSU held the Chippewas to just two shots on the afternoon. Krystal Yee and Jeanette Spero had the Chippewa shots. CMU goalie Janel Spero made 10 saves.
The Chippewas are in the middle of a six-game road stretch. They are on the road for the next three weekends before returning to Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Sept. 29 to take on Louisville.
