The Kent State Soccer team began its five-game road trip with a 1-1 tie at Cornell. The Flashes entered the game 2-1-1 after a big win over Youngstown State.
Cornell entered the matchup unbeaten this season with a 2-0-1 record. Both teams came out strong defensively and stopped each other’s offense from getting much of anything going. The net was kept relatively clean, and good looks were hard to come by for both teams.
“It’s a solid result for being on the road, but I felt we could have done a lot better,” said head coach Rob Marinaro. “We played a little sluggish in our position and just weren’t strong enough.”
THE BREAKDOWN
The Flashes came out of the gate aggressively, as junior forward Josie Morgan made quite the appearance in the ninth minute. She ran down the left side of the field to get a perfect shot right in front of the net, giving the Flashes the upper hand.
“Our goal came off a really smart play from [junior midfielder] Samantha Miller, who threw a quick one into Josie,” said Marinaro. “Then Josie had a very good individual effort in beating two defenders and finishing her opportunity.”
This was Morgan’s first goal of the season, and it was a crucial one to keep the game close. Despite the early lead, the Flashes had to continue fighting off the Big Red as they kept losing possession of the ball.
“We thought that everybody could have really done a little bit better and stepped up the game,” said Marinaro. “We were just a little lethargic on the day.”
The Flashes held the lead for the bulk of the game until Cornell junior midfielder Brooke Brown tied the game on an unassisted goal in the 62nd minute.
“We couldn’t figure out the possession, and I have to be responsible for that,”said Marinaro. “We weren’t making very good individual decisions.”
From there, both defenses maintained control of the game until the final whistle.
Cornell had 10 shots on goal, while KSU had five. Junior Leah Shaffer stepped up in net with nine saves compared to Cornell’s junior goalie Naomi Glassberg, who had four saves. Both teams had 13 fouls throughout the game, and Cornell had eight corner kicks while the Flashes had four.
“Leah came up with some real nice saves, and the defense played really well,” Marinaro said.
Both defenses had a tough battle as they kept the net locked down. KSU came close to having a few scoring opportunities. The biggest came from freshman midfielder Maya Justice, who cruised by Cornell’s defense and just missed the net by a few inches.
“The problem was we were always caught defending because we never gained possession of the ball,” Marinaro said. “So, we kept on turning the ball over so much that we had to work so hard defensively.”
With the draw, the Flashes move to 2-1-1 on the season. Cornell moved to 2-0-2.
UP NEXT
The Flashes will take on its second game of the five-game road trip as the team heads to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Cardinals are 5-1 on the season and on a four-game win streak. Senior forward Mackenzie Geigle, junior midfielder Liza Suydam, sophomore midfielder AG Gibson and sophomore midfielder Amelia Swinarski are Louisville’s top scorers of the 2025 season.
“We’ll get back onto the practice field and really situate our possession a whole lot better than what we saw yesterday and continue to grow from there,” Marinaro said.
Emily Bezjak is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected]
