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Miami travels to take on ranked opponents

Alyssa Zediker, Staff Writer

The Miami University field hockey team will play against a pair of ranked opponents in two games at Northwestern University this weekend. The 'Hawks will compete against 16th-ranked Boston University Sunday and host team No. 11 Northwestern Monday.

"We have to have the mindset that we can compete against anyone in the nation and we can and we have to go to win every single match we play," head coach Inako Puzo said.

Junior back Shannon Regan said she was looking forward to the challenge.

"They are going to be great games and there is a lot of potentially for this weekend and I am really excited to get out there and play," Regan said.

The RedHawks are coming off of a first weekend in which they defeated Radford University and Longwood University, but fell to18th-ranked Wake Forest University.

Junior back Ali Froede was named Mid-American Conference Defense Player of the Week for her performances against Wake, Radford and Longwood. It is the third time in her career that she has won the award.

Puzo said he feels the team was able to learn from the first games as they allowed the RedHawks to play against teams with different playing styles. After playing Wake Forest, Puzo said he felt the team was disciplined and will need to maintain that discipline in order to win these next two games.

"We have to make sure that we can stay focused for seventy minutes in both games," Puzo said. "This is our number one priority."

Junior midfielder Gabby Goldach, who has a team-leading three goals on eight shots, leads the RedHawks' offense. Senior midfielder/forward Emily Gruesser has also been a key contributor, leading the team with three assists and nine shots.

In their scouting of Boston and Northwestern, Puzo said the 'Hawks have found that their style of hockey is not out of the ordinary and they have similar structure on the field. He said it will be a match between which team has worked the most to perfect their basic skills and is the most effective at communicating.

"[In] the end the focus is on us and we need to be sure that we understand each other and know how to play with each other, to keep building as a team," Puzo said.

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Regan said she is confident heading into the weekend and has high expectations.

"I feel so confident in my team, I think we could play against anyone in the country and have a great game," Regan said. "If we play the way we are capable of we can come home with two wins."