For the first time since Oct. 1, the Kent State women’s soccer team lost Sunday to Bowling Green, 3-1.

The Flashes (12-5-1, 8-2-0 Mid-American Conference) found themselves down late in a first half dominated by Bowling Green. Falcons sophomore midfielder Chelsee Washington’s header slipped through Kent State goalkeeper Katie Kingsbury’s hands to give Bowling Green the lead in the 37th minute.

“We started off quite lethargic,” coach Rob Marinaro said. “I didn’t get them going early enough in the game. We allowed them to take control of the first half, and from there on out, it’s tough to build momentum off them building momentum the whole first half.”

Freshman Isabelle Mihail drew the Flashes level in the 61st minute after a chipped through ball from Vital Kats sent her through on goal. Mihail fired the ball into the top right corner for her fourth goal of the year, second on the team behind fellow freshman Kats.

The lead lasted less than ten minutes, as Washington scored again off a Marissa Swindell assist. The goals were Washington’s third and fourth of the season.

Bowling Green put the game out of reach with a third goal from junior Erica Hubert, the team’s second leading scorer, in the 85th minute.

The Falcons lead the MAC with 36 scored this season, eight ahead of Central Michigan’s second place.

Marinaro blamed much of the loss on himself.

“I take responsibility for how we showed up and how we battled today,” he said. “Some of the decisions I made — it falls on me.”

Bowling Green tested Kingsbury the whole game, totaling 21 shots, including 13 on target. The Falcons outshot Kent State 14-1 in the first half.

Kingsbury’s 21 shots faced, 10 saves and three goals allowed were all career highs. The senior came into the game on a three-game shutout streak. She had only allowed two goals this season prior to facing Bowling Green.

The team wasn’t pleased with the result.

“We’ve gotta be pissed about it today and let it soak in,” senior forward and midfielder Donavan Capehart said. “It pisses us off, so we’re going to come back hard. Training on Tuesday is going to be intense. When stuff like this happens, you have to just let it affect you for the day and move on to the next one.”

Mihail said as a freshman, she doesn’t know how the team has dealt with a tough loss like this in previous years.

“All we can do is move forward,” she said. “It’s a hard loss, but we just have to move on. We’ve been playing so well recently. We just have to train really hard.”

Marinaro said he appreciated his team’s fight despite the disappointing result.

“We came back and tied the game,” he said. “From there we should’ve made some better decisions to maintain the momentum. Again, that’s where I say it falls on me.”

The team plays again at 3 p.m. Thursday at Dix Stadium against Ohio in the regular season finale.

Cameron Hoover is a sports reporter. Contact him at [email protected].