With a 3-1 record, the Kent State women’s soccer team hopes to keep its early hot streak alive when it travels to Charleston, S.C. to take on Coastal Carolina (2-1-1) Friday and the College of Charleston (1-3-0) on Sunday.

At four games into this season, the Flashes’ record is better than it was at this point last season. They began their 2012 season 1-3 and notched a 3-7 home record by the end of the year.

The Flashes are 2-0 at home so far this season, already putting them on pace to break last season’s mark.

Head coach Rob Marinaro said his team will “have to play some really good soccer to come out with some results this weekend” against Coastal Carolina and Charleston.

“We’ll be playing in a great city against two quality opponents,” Marinaro said.

The Flashes will be well-rested in time for both games this weekend considering the team left Thursday morning and both games are set to take place on the same field.

“It’s always nice when you’re on the road and play both games at the same vicinity,” Marinaro said. “It minimizes the travel, so once we’re there, we’re there for the entire weekend.”

The Flashes are coming off a weekend sweep of their two-game homestand at Zoeller Field against Cleveland State and Valparaiso. In two hard-fought games that could have gone either way, Kent State ultimately came out on top thanks to clutch goals scored by senior Jessacca Gironda.

In their game against Cleveland State, the Flashes significantly topped their opponent in corner kicks (12-0) and shots (21-6) but were unable to find the back of the net in the first half of regulation. It wasn’t until five minutes into the second half that Gironda scored the game-winning goal after a couple of fluid set-up passes from sophomore goalkeeper Stephanie Senn and junior Stephanie Haugh. The defense was able to hold off the Vikings’ offense the rest of the game to win 1-0.

A similar situation emerged Sunday against Valparaiso as Kent State once again outscored its opponent in terms of corner kicks and shots. Finally in the 108th minute of double overtime, Gironda sunk her second game-winning goal of the weekend to defeat the Crusaders 1-0 as well.

“Jess is on a wonderful streak, and hopefully she can continue with it,” Marinaro said. “I think we carry a very balanced offense and defense, so they’ll all take turns doing very well.”

Last weekend, the defense did not give up any goals and only allowed only three shots on goal. Marinaro said the team’s defense has really stepped up and helped the team rack up wins so far this season.

“(The defense) has done a tremendous job minimizing the chances of our opponent,” Marinaro said. “A lot of our success comes from the shutting-down defense that we’ve seen.”

Friday’s action against Coastal Carolina will begin at 5 p.m. Kent State will stay in Charleston Sunday to face the College of Charleston at 1 p.m.

Contact Richie Mulhall at [email protected].