The theme of the weekend was birds, as the Kent State Flashes field hockey team fell to the Miami RedHawks in a blowout and defeated the Ball State Cardinals in an overtime win.
Friday against Miami
On Friday, the Miami RedHawks visited Murphy-Mellis Field and dominated the Flashes in a shutout 7-0 victory
The Flashes were unable to answer any of Miami’s seven goals, though senior goalkeeper Allison Wood had a season-high 10 saves in the contest. As opposed to previous games, Wood stayed in the net for the entirety of the game.
“I think she’s just playing with a different confidence right now,” coach Heather Hefner said. “She’s playing the full game now and so I think that that has led to a bit of confidence for her.”
Despite Wood’s stellar performance, the Flashes only saw defensive success in the first quarter. It wasn’t until the last 30 seconds of the first period for the Flashes to allow the RedHawks to score. After that, it was all Miami for the rest of the game
Hefner notes this kind of play seems to be a trend for her team.
“That first quarter is just when we’re really fresh and that’s what we’re trying to get better at,” she said. “Being able to carry on for that 60 minutes, not just one quarter.”
The RedHawks stacked two more goals onto the Flashes in the second quarter, courtesy of freshmen midfielders Malena Sabez and Justina Intzes. They combined for five scores on the day.
By the fourth quarter, the RedHawks topped off the dominant win with three goals in the final seven minutes.
“I think we went internal,” Hefner said. “We constantly challenge our girls to be external, to communicate, to not be consumed by their own mistakes and really try to be external, which allows you to play at our best. We started thinking about all the things that were going wrong.”
The win against the Flashes and loss against UMass on Sunday moved Miami to a 6-3 (2-1) record on the season, good enough for third place in the Mid-American Conference.
Sunday against Ball State
After the blowout loss on Friday, the team travelled to Muncie, IN to battle it out with another MAC opponent, the Ball State Cardinals. The Flashes claimed their first road-game victory this season, defeating the Cardinals 1-0 in overtime and putting the team on the board in MAC play.
“We had a lot of good conversations, things we worked through on Saturday, so I think we came in ready to put a little bit more fight out there and I think we did that,” Hefner said.
The team also snapped its seven-game losing skid.
“I think that we learned a lot through those games to be honest,” Hefner said. “This could be really a turning point for our season, where we look up. We’re growing as a group and hitting strides.”
The contest was as even as you can get. Each team recorded 17 shots and nine on the net.
After four quarters, each team was unable to score, causing the game to enter extra periods. The Flashes found themselves victorious nine minutes in when senior forward Emma Rolston found the back of the net to score.
Hefner credits the team’s performance on both sides of the ball as to why KSU was able to pull away victorious.
“Allison Wood was phenomenal in-cage to me,” Hefner said. “She was our defensive strength. I think at the other end, it was just will-power.”
Wood recorded her first shutout of the season for KSU and notched eight saves throughout the game.
“Throughout the season, we’ve seen that Emma Rolston has the ability to score goals,” Hefner said. “She’s been quiet for the last couple games, but I think it was the determination and willpower at the end of the game.”
Rolston scored her fifth goal this season against the Cardinals and is now the Flash’s leading goal-earner alongside junior forward Maybritt Duwel. Prior to the contest against Ball State and Miami OH, Rolston recorded only one goal over the course of three games.
The 1-0 victory on Sunday is the third consecutive game KSU has beaten Ball State by one goal. Additionally, the previous contest against the Cardinals ended in overtime during the MAC Tournament Quarter Finals.
Looking ahead, the Golden Flashes will take a week-long break before coming home to play against Longwood Sunday.
“It’s actually really great timing,” Hefner said. I think just being able to be home for a whole week is going to do wonders to our group.”
The Longwood Lancers sit at the bottom of the MAC conference, remaining winless in conference play. Overall the team is 2-8. The Flashes will enter the match at 2-7 (1-2) in ninth place in the MAC standings.
The Lancers are coming off a 2-1 loss against MAC opponent Bellarmine.
“Longwood is always a gritty team, so we’re ready for a battle,” Hefner said. “We’re really focusing on us, and I’m excited to watch the film back and figure out where we can keep getting better.”
Lexie Blatnik is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].