The Kent State Field Hockey team fell to the six-time defending Mid-American Conference champions, the Miami RedHawks, in the title game last season, but new coach Heather Hefner is excited for the opportunity to help get the Flashes over the hump.
“The grit, the relentlessness and the resilience is what can take a team really far regardless of the skill and the talent,” Hefner said. “We have a lot of talent, but that is what’s going to make a NCAA tournament run with a group like ours.”
The Flashes, who are ranked No. 4 in the MAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, are riding high coming into the 2024 campaign after an 8-1 victory over Slippery Rock University Aug. 24 in exhibition play.
“It was great–one of the things we talked about is that we want to be the ones that set the pace,” Hefner said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We want to play in a way that says we’re going to dominate how this game is going to go, and I thought our girls really did that.”
The game was highlighted by sophomore midfielder Eva Usoz and senior midfielder Agustina Florio each recording two goals. Kent State also put on a defensive show, shutting out Slippery Rock in the first half and only giving up one goal that came in the third quarter.
Usoz has an impressive one-year resume. She was awarded MAC Freshman of the Year Nov. 2 after leading the Flashes with 22 points and nine goals last season.
“We have to put a lot of pieces together that we are working on and we definitely need to iron out our corners, but I was happy overall,” Hefner said. “We’re definitely going to look at this film and figure out the way forward and figure out how we can make the best one-percent gains going into our home opener.”
The home opener, and the season opener, will be at 11 a.m. Friday against the Indiana University Hoosiers at Murphy-Mellis Field. Indiana went 6-13 and 0-8 in the Big Ten Conference last season.
KSU will look to get revenge, this time on Kent’s home field, after falling 3-2 against the Hoosiers last year in Indiana.
The Flashes will be playing in seven home games and nine away games this season. Eight of the season’s games will be against conference opponents.
Among its road games, Kent State will take a West Coast road trip, as the team will play Stanford University, California University and the University of California, Davis. This will be a three-games-in-four-days stretch for the Flashes occurring Sept. 5, 6 and 8. Other matchups to look forward to on the road will be Ohio University Oct. 20 and Miami University (OH) to close its season Nov. 1.
Kent State will have some big home games on the schedule, hosting Penn State University Sept. 13 and MAC rival Central Michigan University Oct. 18.
Hefner, a first time head coach and former assistant coach at Liberty, knows how important coaching is when playing in big games. On June 3, Hefner announced that Lizzie Hamlett and Kieran Minton will be assistant coaches for the program.
“To have Lizzie and Kieran on staff has been such a help, honestly. Not just with support, but the way that they lead and instruct this team has helped me so much stepping in this role,” Hefner said.
The Flashes roster consists of five freshmen, five sophomores, five juniors and five seniors.
“Our team theme this year is ‘every piece,’ and to me every piece matters,” Hefner said. “From the top goal scorer to anyone that isn’t getting many minutes, every single person matters on this team.”
Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
