Regulation was not enough time to decide the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals field hockey match between Kent State and Ball State Wednesday.

Both teams had issues gaining traction offensively, as the Flashes and Cardinals took a 0-0 lead into overtime with the chance to move on to the MAC semifinals against James Madison.

While KSU couldn’t convert on shots for scores, the team absolutely lit up the box score, tallying 23 total shots before the additional period.

Eight of the shots were taken by sophomore midfielder Eva Usoz and an additional five were taken by sophomore midfielder Maybritt Duwel.

Only 12 shots were on goal, but the Flashes’ attack was relentless all day – still, the team was unable to penetrate the goal past Ball State’s netminder.

Freshman goalkeeper Lieve Jansen saw four shots against her, but only one on goal, which did not come until overtime.

60 minutes were completed before the teams went into overtime, and five more minutes would be played after that before the deciding goal was scored.

Junior forward Emma Seger had the ball deep into BSU territory before firing a cross-goal pass onto the stick of senior midfielder Bella Carpenter.

Carpenter buried the ball into the net, propelling the Flashes onto the next round with the overtime dagger.

Carpenter’s third goal of the season came at a huge time, giving the Flashes the 1-0 win to keep their season alive.

Even with the close margin, the Flashes thoroughly dominated the Cardinals all game.

The team took 12 more shots on goal and had 16 penalty corners to the Cardinals’ two. Although the Flashes could not convert on their many corners, the team maintained pressure throughout the entirety of the game until the last second.

The KSU defense was elite in the first match of the postseason – only five shots were attempted and only one made it through to be a shot on goal against the KSU goaltender.

Honors and looking ahead

Usoz, who took eight shots Wednesday, was named to the All-MAC First Team after her efforts this season.

Usoz leads the team in goals (eight), assists (six), points (22) and shots on goal (22). She is eighth in the MAC in goals scored and fifth in the nation in assists this season.

Awards are nothing new for Usoz, as she raked them in last season as a freshman. She received MAC Freshman of the Year , First Team All-MAC and MAC All-Freshman honors.

Senior midfielder Agustina Florio was named to the All-MAC Second Team after rifling off a five-goal, one-assist season for the Flashes.

Jansen got the shutout against Ball State after being named to the MAC All-Freshman Team. She started 15 games for the Flashes, finished with a 7-7 record, made 82 saves and finished with a .739 save percentage.

The last KSU player to win postseason honors was freshman forward Delfina Larripa, who was also named to the MAC All-MAC Freshman Team. She played and started in all 18 games this season and put up two goals on 12 shots.

Coach Heather Hefner has led her team to the MAC semifinals in her first year with the team after a season turnaround where the team started 0-6 to start the season.

KSU’s next game will be Thursday at 11:30 a.m. against James Madison in Oxford, Ohio.

The winner will advance to the finals with the chance to win the conference.

John Hilber is sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].