The Kent State lacrosse team (5-9, 2-2) defeated the Akron Zips (5-8, 0-3) 18-12 Sunday afternoon, as the team celebrated Senior Day.
The Flashes were on a three game losing streak, two of which were home-games losses to two Mid-American Conference opponents.
Last season, Kent State went 2-0 against the Zips, winning an away-game 19-6. Akron is 2-5 all-time against Kent State since the start of the program.
Senior attacker Jackie Wolford netted a career high seven goals, three assists and two draw controls to earn herself MAC offensive player of the week.
“We are very focused on the rivalry of Akron,” coach Brianne Tierney said. “We are continuing to make adjustments and take care of business out on the field. I think the depth on the defensive side helps us a lot. We were great on draw controls and taking advantage of the opportunities when they presented themselves”.
After a back and forth battle on the field in the first quarter, the Zips struck first. Not long after, sophomore midfielder Peyton Gellin scored her 20th goal of the season.
Akron led 5-3 toward the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Flashes shifted their momentum, as the team went on a 6-0 run on draws and goals.
Wolford earned her first goal of the game. Freshman attacker Morgan Halli tacked on two goals and went 5-6 on free position shots.
Sophomore midfielder Zayda Crumpton added two more goals for the Flashes, followed by another goal scored by Junior attacker Allie Lee to put the Flashes up 9-6 at the half.
Before halftime, Kent State led in shots (17-13) and draw controls (9-8).
Freshman goalkeeper Sydney Davis, who came in for senior Taylor Monturo, allowed seven goals while having six saves against Akron.
In the third quarter, Akron stuck first, maintaining three goals back to back to tie the score 9-9.
Kent State responded back with three goals back to back to end the third quarter. Halli scored her third goal of the game with a hat trick, and Wolford tacked on her second of the day, followed by Crumpton scoring her fourth goal to extend the score 12-9.
In the final quarter, Kent State held Akron down, only scoring two goals. The Flashes found all the angles they needed to succeed in this quarter. Crumpton scored her fifth goal of the game.
Wolford added on five more goals to end the game 18-12. Gellin secured a season high of three assists, and the Flashes continued to lead in draw controls 19-14.
The team has earned themselves a 3-0 streak over Akron since last season.
Wolford said the team rallied together to find loopholes and adjustments that led to the big conference win at home.
“When we get into the huddle and talk about what we need to change and fix, I keep saying the more games we play, we have to keep going at them and gain momentum. It helps us alot and it motivated us to get this win,” Wolford said. “We adjusted and adapted throughout the game. It is just us reading our defender and recognizing what to do on them to succeed on both sides”.
Coming up, Kent State will travel west for a non-conference matchup against Colorado at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Jack Parrino is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected]
