After losing to Cincinnati at home Feb. 23, the Kent State lacrosse team suffered another pair of losses, dropping its record to 2-4 amid a three-game losing streak.
The Flashes played at Bucknell (3-2) Feb. 25, and were on the wrong side of a 9-2 first quarter. Though the defense improved in the second quarter, giving up four goals, Kent State was only able to put up another two goals in the second quarter, leaving itself down 13-4 at halftime.
“Credit to them. They were on point and came out ready to play,” coach Brianne Tierney said.
The Flashes were unable to turn it around in the third quarter, getting outscored 3-0 before winning the fourth quarter 2-1, but by then, the margin was much too big, and the team fell by a final score of 17-6.
“We didn’t do the things that we want to do. We weren’t winning face-offs, and we didn’t have many long possessions,” Tierney said.
Despite the loss, sophomore attacker Haleigh Greenberg and junior midfielder Zayda Crumpton both scored two goals, bringing each player’s total goals up to seven after the game.
The team looked to regroup Sunday in a home matchup with Lindenwood (4-1), and despite both scoring more and giving up less than in the loss to Bucknell, Kent State could not get back in the win column.
The Flashes again went down early, finding themselves in a 4-2 deficit to start the second quarter, but in a much better spot than they were against the Bison.
After giving up the first goal of the second quarter, Kent State answered with two straight goals, cutting the lead to 5-4. However, the Lions scored four of the game’s next five goals to take a 9-5 lead in the third quarter, and carried a 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
Twice the Flashes cut the lead to two, then, after scoring two straight goals in under a minute and a half, they found themselves down just one goal with a little over three minutes left, but Lindenwood was able to shut the door, scoring twice in a minute to secure a 14-11 victory.
“We got a little unlucky with our shots. We had about five shots hit the post in the game,” Tierney said. “Morgan Halli missed some shots that she typically makes.”
Crumpton was, again, a leading scorer, pouring in four goals while junior attacker Lizzie Lundeen scored three times, bringing her team-leading total to 13, followed by Crumpton’s 11. Crumpton’s five assists on the season makes her point total 16, which leads the team, and she is tailed by Lundeen’s 14 total points.
Heading into its matchup with Bucknell, Kent State’s high for goals allowed was 15. However, over the last two games, the opposition has hit the back of the net an average of 15.5 times per game.
“I think that’s on us as coaches to give our goalies a more defined role. They are two great players, and we have to figure out how each one fits into what we want to do,” Tierney said. “We have three games left before the conference schedule, and we’ll probably give them each a half in those games and go from there.”
The Flashes will play the second of three straight home games when they look to get back on track against the Saint Francis Red Flash (1-3) of the Northeast Conference.
“We need to get back to our focuses, which are having quality possessions, controlling the clock and ending those possessions with a score,” Tierney said.
Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at dmanou[email protected].
