MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Offense was on display early with two goals in the first 15 minutes as Central Michigan opened up its 2012 season with a 2-1 win over Radford at the Robert Morris Tournament Saturday morning.
Junior forward Bailey McKeon and senior midfielder Erin Dye both found the back of the cage as the Chippewas (1-0) took 10 shots on goal in the first half to jump out to what proved to be an insurmountable lead for Radford (0-1).
Though the Chippewas walked away with the win, head coach Cristy Freese said the team has many opportunities for improvement moving forward.
“I think there are some things we certainly need to do better, because we could have put this game out of reach and we weren’t able to do that yet,” Freese said. “We missed some opportunities today, but we got the win and we’ll move on and learn from it.”
With the win the Chippewas advance to the championship game of the tournament Sunday at 2 p.m. against Villanova.
McKeon scored to the far left post in the ninth minute off the rebound of a shot by junior forward Erica Garwood, who was credited with an assist. She took six shots in the match, five of which were on goal.
The Chippewas continued to push the pace offensively, with eight shots in the following six-and-a-half minutes of the game, five of which were on goal.
Dye capped that stretch with her first goal of the season on a tip-in from five yards out. Sophomore midfielder Maureen Riley assisted Dye on the goal, which was her 23rd as a Chippewa.
Dye fired a game-high 10 shots, including a game-high six on goal - both of which are career-highs.
The Chippewa defense, led by seniors Brittany Burga and Emily Girasole, allowed just one shot in the first half, which was saved by senior goalkeeper Anastasia Netto.
“Overall, I though we did well defensively. In the first half they didn’t have anything on goal until the very end,” Freese said. “It’s still the first game of the season so there are still game situations we need to get used to, but I thought we handled getting scored on well by not letting them to tie up the game.
Radford scored its lone goal of the game in the 56th minute on a shot off a corner from the top of the arch by Stacey Mackintosh.
The Chippewas took nine shots in the second half for a total of 23, while allowing five in the second for a total of six. Netto made two more saves in the second half.
Garwood finished with three shots, one on goal, while sophomores Jordyn Brengosz and Mary Alice Moore took two shots apiece.
The Chippewas took nine corners, three times as many as Radford.
CMU is now 1-2 all-time against Radford.
