Following last season’s loss in the Mid-American Conference championship game to Ohio University, the Kent State soccer team is ready to claim the title themselves, which would be the second time under coach Rob Marinaro.
“It’s just one step at a time,” Marinaro said. “Today was a nice step forward for us. It’s just every step, and it’s continuously getting better every step of the way.”
KSU came in at No. 4 in the MAC preseason polls, which is voted on by MAC coaches. OU is one spot ahead of the Flashes in the poll.
Coming into this season, the soccer team has a lot of new team members – the team has seven freshmen and three transfer students.
Every freshman on the team has appeared in a game this season, and five freshmen started in the Flashes’ most recent game against Oakland.
“They’re growing individually,” Marinaro said. “As a group, we’re playing a lot faster. We’re playing a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more of the killer instinct.”
Marinaro will have leadership coming back to the team for the newcomers, as he will return all 11 of his starters from last season.
“We can see great communication on the field, you can hear it clearly in the stands,” he said. “It’s leadership. We have a great group of seniors that have made everyone feel comfortable. We always talk about being equals, and that’s what they’ve produced as a unit. It’s the culture that our seniors have created.”
Kent State will return its highest goal-scorer and assister from last season. Senior midfielder Alisa Arthur scored 10 goals and had six assists in 21 games on her way to an All-MAC first team selection.
“Every year, everyone’s doing their work over the summer,” Arthur said. “It’s just finding those little things you need to tweak to do better the next season. So for me, it’s finding those little things and working on those for the summer to be ready.”
Senior goalkeeper Heidi Marshall will also be returning between the pipes for Kent State after appearing in one game last season.
Starting the season off right
Last season, the Flashes went 10-6-2 before MAC tournament play, but this season, KSU has not registered a loss yet.
After two exhibition games, the Flashes started the season at home Aug. 15 with a win against Cleveland State, a team KSU defeated last season, as well.
Kent State rode a hot first half to a 2-1 victory as both goals were scored in the first half of play. The goals were scored a little more than one minute apart from each other, and they were scored by sophomore forward Josie Morgan and sophomore midfielder Thea Oberhoff.
The Flashes followed up the win with its first tie of the season with a 2-2 deadlock against Youngstown State Aug. 18.
Each team scored one goal in each half, and Morgan scored her second goal in as many games with sophomore midfielder Samantha Miller scoring the other Flashes’ goal.
The team remained undefeated after its game against Oakland Sunday.
Miller added to her goal tally with the game’s first goal in the fifth minute of play. Three more goals were added in the second half by the Flashes by sophomore defender Ava Todd (1st goal of season – 50th minute), Arthur (1st goal of season – 55th minute) and sophomore midfielder Alanna Raimondo (1st goal of the season – 69th minute).
Marshall saved two shots on her way to the team’s first shutout of the season, and the Flashes beat Oakland 4-0. Marshall saw no shots on goal against her in the first half.
Arthur scored her first goal of the season and added one assist in the win.
“We asked for her to take the lead on things, and she’s done that,” Marinaro said. “She’s a great young lady that has taken this program and shaped it her way. Everyone else is following, and that’s why we have such a great environment and a wonderful team experience.”
KSU is 2-0-1 to start the season, and the next step into winning a MAC title is the next game against James Madison University Thursday.
The season is still new, and the addition of multiple young starters presents new challenges for Marinaro and the team.
“When you have as many freshmen coming in, you have to give them that learning experience,” Marinaro said. “They’ve done a really good job with it, but we have a lot of room to improve. We need to improve a lot. It’s a wonderful group of young women, and we’re really pleased to help them get there.”
Brittany Lucia is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected]
