Courtesy: Robert Barclay/CMU Pam Seufert and the Chippewas head to Oxford, Ohio this weekend.

MOUNT PLEASANT — Following a 1-1 nonconference weekend, the Central Michigan field hockey team will play an important Mid-American Conference match this weekend in Oxford, Ohio.

CMU faces MAC foe Miami on Friday at 3 p.m., and stays in Oxford for a neutral-site match against Big Ten foe Northwestern on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Chippewas split a pair of contests last weekend in Hamilton, N.Y. Central’s defense dominated in a 3-0 win over Colgate in its season opener on Friday, but fell by an identical 3-0 margin against Rider on Saturday.

“We saw some easily correctable mistakes when we looked at the film from the Rider match,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “Offensively, we need to have better movement. I felt we got stagnant as the match wore on. On the defensive side, we just need to bring the intensity all the time and make sure we don’t have the lapses that we had on Saturday.”

Miami is off to a 0-3 start to its season and has been outscored 13-1 in three matches. The RedHawks went 14-7 with a 7-3 MAC record, good for a second-place league finish in 2008.

Central split its two meetings against Miami with the road team winning both contests last season. Miami claimed a 2-0 victory in Mount Pleasant on Sept. 12 and Central responded with a 3-2 win on Oct. 10 in Oxford. The Chippewas are 27-29 all-time against the RedHawks.

“Miami is a team that has always given us fits,” Freese said. “They have played a tough schedule and are a much better team than their 0-3 record. They are strong offensive team who will be a tough challenge for our defense.”

Northwestern enters the week with a 4-1 record and 15 goals scored in five matches. NU has already won three overtime matches this season. The Wildcats went 7-11 with a 1-5 record in the Big Ten in 2008.

Saturday’s contest will be the 12th time Central has faced Northwestern. The Chippewas are 3-8 against the Wildcats.

“Northwestern has played a lot of matches already this season,” Freese said. “They will have seven matches under their belt when we face them on Saturday. The Wildcats’ new coach, Tracy Fuchs, has done a good job already. They have more scoring punch than they’ve had the past few seasons and they are a sound team who I think will be one of the surprise teams in the Big Ten this year.”

Complete results will be available on cmuchippewas.com following both matches.

CMU News and Notes

One and Done — The Chippewas’ deep defense was on full display in their season-opening 3-0 win at Colgate last Friday. CMU posted a 3-0 shutout victory and held the Raiders to only one shot, the fewest attempts the Maroon and Gold has allowed since Missouri State fired only three shots on Oct. 13, 2007.

Starting with Nothing — CMU’s season-opening shutout victory over Colgate was the program’s first shutout to in a season-opener since a 2-0 win over Dartmouth on neutral ground on Sept. 5, 2004. The last time the Chippewas began the season with a shutout in a true road match was against Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 10, 1988. CMU did not shut out an opponent until Oct. 19 (Ohio) last season.

Welcome Back — After missing all of last season due to injury, senior forward Kelly Jordan emphatically announced her return on opening weekend. The Burt, N.Y. native took 13 of the Chippewas’ 28 shots in two matches. One of those shots found the back of the net in a win over Colgate. The goal was Jordan’s first since Oct. 21, 2007 at Ball State.