The Kent State soccer team (8-7-2, 4-4-1 Mid-American Conference) fell just short of a comeback Thursday night in its 4-3 loss against Western Michigan (12-5, 6-3 MAC).

The Flashes got an early start in the 4th minute when sophomore forward Cameron Shedenhelm scored off of a header.

“I think we started off with a lot of confidence,” coach Rob Marinaro said.

By the 21st minute Kent State led in shots (5-3), but Western Michigan managed to tie it up with a goal from sophomore Bailey Korhorn.

It didn’t take much longer for Western Michigan to take the lead with 3 more goals in the 24th, 37th and 43rd minutes consecutively.

“We shouldn’t be allowing 4 goals in 25 minutes,” Marinaro said.

The Flashes entered the intermission down by three and motivated to stage a come back in the 2nd half.

“We lost the confidence that we had in the beginning halfway through the first period,” Marinaro said.

Sophomore Isabelle Mihail started the second half off with a goal in the 55th minute. Mihail gathered the ball in front of the net and beat the goalkeeper to put the socre at 4-2.

“We worked harder in the second half, and the overall team commitment was higher,” Marinaro said.

The Flashes kept the momentum going in the 65th minute with another goal, cutting the lead to 4-3.

In the 78th minute the Flashes had an uncontested breakaway but were unable to score, with the game ending in a 4-3 loss.  

“To come back from a three goal deficit to make it 4-3 allows me to be confident,” Marinaro said. “We can’t let ourselves get down like that against a MAC team. It’s trying to battle back from a little too much.”

Kent State returns on Sunday for their final home game of the 2018 regular season. They will face off against Northern Illinois (2-14, 1-7 MAC).

“We need to bring the commitment we showed in the first ten minutes of the second half,” Marinaro said. “Each and every individual needs to show a commitment to battling every game.” 

The Flashes face off against the Huskies at 1 p.m. on Sunday.