The Kent State soccer team has relied on their defense throughout the season, and they came up big again in a 2-0 win against Bowling Green. 

In eight of the last nine games, KSU has allowed one or fewer goals. 

“The team had a great performance, especially defensively,” head coach Rob Marinaro said. “Coming to compete for 90 minutes will give yourselves an opportunity, and that’s what they did.” 

The Flashes move to 8-4-2 with a 5-2 conference record, sitting in fourth place. 

BGSU falls to 7-5-1 overall, and are now third in the conference at 5-1-1.

The back line of senior Dalaney Ranallo, freshman Ava Todd, sophomores Abby Breitschuh and Kelsey Salopek, and senior goalkeeper Sarah Melén contained the Falcons all night. 

Bowling Green shot 27 times, with Melén saving all six that were on goal. 

“I think a lot of the credit comes from the pressure our defense was putting on them,” Marinaro said.

In the last seven games, the Falcons had been shutout only one time.

The offense for the Flashes rewarded the defense’s effort when freshman midfielder Alanna Raimando drew a foul in the penalty box in the 23rd minute. 

Alisa Arthur received the chance to take the penalty kick and scored on a rebound after a Bowling Green save. 

Arthur is the leading scorer for the Flashes with six goals and has scored in her last three contests. 

“It’s a team quality production, and Alisa gets available because of the movement we get in the midfield and our wingers,” Marinaro said. “When everybody is on, it creates more for her and everybody else.”

After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime, Kent State continued to attack. 

In the 58th minute, junior midfielder Siena Stambolich played a ball to senior forward Callie Cunningham, who worked around the keeper to score.

The Flashes defense commanded the rest of the game and held Bowling Green scoreless despite conceding 11 corner kicks, including 5 in the second half. 

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Flashes are in 4th place in the conference. The top six teams in the conference make the playoffs, so every game becomes important.

Next up, Kent State will return to Dix Stadium for a matchup against Northern Illinois (5-6-3, 3-3-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. 

“At this point, everybody is lumped in for their spots,” Marinaro said. “We gotta come back with the same type of effort we had on Thursday and show that we can produce.”

Matthew Franos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected]