Kent State was deadlocked with rival Akron at the 52nd minute Thursday night. The tie was broken up shortly after by an unsuspecting foot.
Sophomore defenseman Ava Todd hurled in a 40-yard free kick, which redirected off an Akron defender and into the goal.
“Ava has been amazing all season long, so it was really nice to see her get some credit for points on the board,” coach Rob Marinaro said. “She has been giving us great service on set pieces. So finally, it was really nice to see her get a little bit of luck and get the right type of bounce. I’m really happy for her.”
The tiebreaker was Todd’s second goal of the season and of her collegiate career.
“This was a great team effort, and I’m really proud of them finding ways to win games,” Marinaro said.
This is the Flashes’ second win in a row at home, and fourth win in a row against the Zips.
“I thought it was a little sloppy of us,” Marinaro said. “I don’t think we played great, but we played with a lot of effort, and ultimately, that’s what gave us the win.”
Kent State is now 7-5-3 overall and 4-3-2 in the MAC, while the Zips are 5-7-4 overall and 0-7-2 in the MAC – the winless record puts UA in last place in the conference.
“I’m super proud of the intention of the players to really put forth a great effort. I have to give them tons of credit on that end,” Marinaro said.
The breakdown
The score was tied throughout the whole first half, where Kent State attempted 11 shots in the first, and six of them were on goal.
It wasn’t until the 52nd minute when the Flashes scored.
The Zips attempted three shots under 10 minutes after KSU scored, but they were unsuccessful in finding the equalizer.
“I thought we made them more uncomfortable with the ball, so we were forcing more turnovers,” Marinaro said. “We started off really well with that, I just didn’t think we capitalized very well in the end.”
The Flashes attempted nine more shots in the last 38 minutes of the game, but were unable to find the net.
“Our final decisions weren’t the best,” Marinaro said. “We were taking shots from a little too far. I thought we could have taken more steps towards a goal, and been a little bit more creative and dynamic.We just settled a little bit too much on the day.”
Of Akron’s 10 total shots, only two made it to the net, which senior goalkeeper Heidi Marshall saved.
“Heidi has come up big for us,” Marinaro said. “She made a couple of real big saves to keep us in the game and keep us in the lead. That’s what you’re going to need from senior leadership.”
Marshall has pitched five shutouts this season with four coming against MAC opponents.
“Our entire team defense was excellent,” Marinaro said. “The effort that they gave on the defensive end was just fantastic. We closed down spaces. We were covering a lot of ground. Players were working really hard to cover for each other, and that’s where they get that kind of commitment from everybody.”
Kent State attempted a season-high 22 shots to Akron’s 10. The Flashes nearly had a season-high in shots on goal, just missing the 13-shot mark by one attempt.
The Flash attack also got to the Zips more by creating more corner kicks (8-6).
“We keep on creating opportunities for ourselves, and if we just have great team defense and limit their opportunities, we’re going to get ours because we have so many dynamic players on the offense,” Marinaro said.
Up next
The Flashes will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., to play Eastern Michigan Sunday at 1 p.m.
Kent State has won the last three games it has gone up against Eastern Michigan, the most recent match being last September in a 2-1 victory.
The Eagles have lost or tied the last four games they have played.
Eastern Michigan is 5-6-5 overall and 1-3-5 in the MAC.
“We need to give them the opportunity to shine and our defense has been stellar in doing that, and we’re going to need another great effort on Sunday,” Marinaro said.
Emily Lowen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
