The Kent State lacrosse club (13-1) defeated Penn State Altoona 9-5 Saturday afternoon, a win that gave the Flashes the Midwest Conference championship and a berth to Annapolis for the Elite Eight.

“It feels to know that we worked hard to earn this championship,” said team captain Adam Belica. “We set our goals and knew what we had to do to accomplish them, starting with fall ball and winter practices.”

The Flashes’ run to the championship started on Saturday when they look on Cleveland State University in the round of 32. The Flashes beat the Vikings 14-2 earlier in April, and carried that momentum in their Saturday matchup, topping Cleveland State 12-3. The Flashes jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead, which morphed into a 10-1 lead after three quarters. 

The Flashes took on Penn State Altoona, who upset favorite Bowling Green State University 9-8 in overtime. The Flashes wasted no time jumping on the Lions, as they led 5-0 after the first quarter, with each other their goals coming from a different scorer.

The Lions found the back of the net three times in the second quarter, but Cody Carson scored his second goal of the game to make it 6-3 in favor of Kent State.

“It means a lot just from the simple fact that we had to completely rebuild the program,” Carson said. “It had gotten to a point where the alumni kind of began to pull support because it wasn’t being ran responsibly, and to see us come from playing less than two full games my freshman year to winning the conference title is pretty incredible.” 

The Flashes once again scored three goals in the third quarter, with goals coming from Adam Kokas, Shane Breckenridge and Joe Wesner. The Lions scored two goals in the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as they would get. 

The Elite Eight and final four games will take place on Saturday, and the national championship game will be on Sunday, May 6.

Henry Palattella is the sports editor, contact him at [email protected].