The Kent State field hockey team won two overtime games this weekend in Missouri, defeating Missouri State Saturday and St. Louis yesterday.

The 2-1 victory over Missouri State and 3-2 victory over St. Louis put the Golden Flashes at 8-3 on the season. Coach Kathleen Schanne said she was pleased with her team this weekend and said the players were tired after winning two overtime games.

“We are playing with a lot of fight right now,” Schanne said. “We are creating a lot of scoring opportunities and playing aggressive on defense.”

It took two extra periods on Saturday, but freshman Rachel Miller scored her seventh goal of the season off an assist from fellow freshman Nicole Leach to beat Missouri State.

Leach and Miller traded places on Sunday, with Leach scoring the game-winning goal off a Miller assist to beat St. Louis. Miller’s seven goals leads the team, as well as her six assist.

Schanne said her team has improved a lot since losing its first game of the season in overtime against Bucknell.

“We have worked on our overtime preparation a lot this season,” Schanne said. “These games help us down the road, especially as the games matter more into conference play, and all the way into the conference tournament.”

For the third consecutive week, junior forward Natalie Barrett did not play. She had been the team’s leading scorer before injury. Senior captain Charlotte Muller stepped up in Barrett’s absence and scored twice this weekend. Muller has four goals so far in the season. Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week, and Kent State goalie, Kara Copeland, played every minute this weekend and kept the opponents out of the goal with five saves.

The team had lost in its previous two trips to Missouri State, but the FieldTurf used at Missouri State did not bother the Golden Flashes, who play every other game on Astroturf. Schanne said the team did a good job of just playing good field hockey and not focusing on the surface

The team has won five of its last six games, all on the road. But Schanne said the team is looking forward to having its next five at home, starting Saturday against Central Michigan.

Contact field hockey reporter Jeff Russ at [email protected].