Repas’ unorthodox style paying dividends for Flashes
Junior midfielder Megan Repas battles Bowling Green defender Alyssa Carmack for control of the ball on Sunday, Sept. 25. The Flashes beat the Falcons 1-0. Photo by Kristin Bauer.
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Soccer is a game of skill and opportunity.
Rarely does a player come along that can take a throw-in and make it as dangerous as a corner kick, but that is just what Repas does for the Flashes. Over her career for the Flashes, Repas has been the key in a team-high 13 assists.
Kent State coach Rob Marinaro has been using her ability since she first got to Kent.
“We try to kind of incorporate it in all of our practices and everything,” Repas said. “It’s obvious now that I get the ball and throw it as hard as I possibly can into the box and try and play it of like it’s a corner.”
Repas’s throw was the key ingredient behind the Flashes win last Sunday over Northern Illinois. After Stephanie Haugh tied the game at two just minutes before, Repas threw a perfect ball to senior Vanessa Salerno for the game-winning goal, and the victory improved the Flashes to 9-5 (3-3 in the Mid-American Conference).
“Our whole entire throw-in play is to try and find Vanessa because she’s so tall and she is really good at putting the ball in,” Repas said. “Vanessa was finally wide open because they were man-marking her the whole game, so I just threw it in and she got her head on it and it just went in.”
What first got Repas to Kent State was her ability to score. When she attended Avon High School, she broke the school’s all-time scoring record. But Repas has not been a stranger to scoring at the collegiate level either. Earlier this season, she scored her first goal as a Flash against St. Bonaventure.
So far this season, Repas has scored three goals and six assists. The highlight of her season so far has been a stellar three-assist performance against Youngstown State.
Heading into a weekend series away from home, the Flashes will be playing Toledo (7-5-2, 5-1) Friday at 4 p.m. and then heading out to Ball State (8-4-2, 5-1-1) on Sunday for a 1 p.m.
“I think we are ready for two more victories,” Repas said. “We have been working our butts off at practice and every game we get just get one step better.”
Contact Matt Lofgren at [email protected] and @gonzoEdu.