Senior Jenna Hellstrom’s chip shot in the 69th minute proved to be the winning goal for the Kent State women’s soccer team in their 2-1 win over University of Dayton at Baujan Field on Saturday.

The victory was the Flashes’ (2-1) second win in a row, as they beat Canisius College 3-0 last Sunday in their home opener.

“It was a great team win today,” said head coach Rob Marinaro. “Everyone stepped up with heart and determination. It was brutally hot but we held it together for a hard road win.”

The Flyers dropped to 0-3, with all three of their losses this year coming by the score of 2-1.

The Flashes scored in the 10th minute when Hellstrom was fouled inside the box and they converted the penalty kick to give the Flashes an early 1-0 lead. Neither Kent State nor Dayton were able to score the rest of the half, despite the fact that the Flyers outshot the Flashes 6-3 in the first half.

Dayton knotted the score when Junior Alexis Kiehl converted a penalty kick in the 66th minute. The goal is Kiehl’s third of the year. She has scored all of the goals of the year thus far for the Flyers.

The Flashes took the lead for good when freshman Maddie LaVigna sent the ball to Hellstrom, who proceeded to chip the ball past Dayton’s keeper, Kaelyn Johns, to make it 2-1. The assist was LaVigna’s first point as a member of the Flashes.

Hellstrom continues to cement her name in the Kent State record books, as she now has three goals on the year, and 26 throughout her career with the Flashes. The goal was also the 12th time she has scored the game winning goal, which adds on to her Kent State records.

Sophomore Ashleah McDonald made multiple multiple saves the whole day. Her first save occurred in the 28th minute, when Dayton forward Sara Robinson got free in the box, but McDonald made a diving stop to prevent her from scoring.

She continued this in the second half, where she punched out a header early in the second half, and ended the game by making two big stopes in the final two minutes. The win is the 13th of her career, which ties her for fifth all-time.

The Flashes will spend this weekend down south, as they will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, to play against the University of North Florida on Friday and Jacksonville University on Sunday.

Henry Palattella is a sports reporter for the Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].