During the first week of the 2016 season, the Kent State (4-1) field hockey team outshot its opponents, 54-23, en route to three consecutive wins, including victories over two Power-Five programs in Michigan State (3-1) and the University of California (0-3).

After beginning the campaign with the program’s best start in 21 years, Kent State was unable to keep its momentous streak alive, dropping a 5-1 decision against nationally-ranked Stanford (1-2). However, the resilient Flashes bounced back and secured a 3-2 win over the University of the Pacific (0-2) on Labor Day to conclude the team’s Northern California road swing.

Friday night in Berkeley, the Flashes shutout Cal, 2-0, despite a scoreless first half. However, two minutes into the final frame, redshirt junior Alison Harmatz put Kent State ahead with her third goal of the season after she dribbled her way in front of the cage and snuck a shot past goalkeeper Kori Griswold.

Freshman Kortney Keller then tallied her first career goal at the 47:28 mark after Laila Richter fed her a pass in front of the net. The two-goal advantage was more than enough for Kent State keeper Andrea Rinehart.

Rinehart, the Mid-American Conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week, notched her first shutout of the season against the Bears, but it wasn’t without help from the Flashes’ stringent defense, which only allowed Cal to get six shots off.

Sunday’s match against No. 11 Stanford had a different ending, though. The Cardinal cruised to a 5-1 win over the Flashes, limiting Kent State to only five shots, its lowest total of the season.

Despite the fact that Stanford took an early first half lead after Jessica Welch scored on a penalty corner at the 25:59 mark, the Flashes limited the Cardinal to seven shots during the first 35 minutes of play and went into the halftime down by one.

But four second-half Stanford tallies cushioned its lead and secured the victory. Ines Delpech netted the Flashes’ lone goal on an assist from Jessica Nesbitt. The Cardinal led the contest with six corners and 17 shots, including 11 on the cage.

Pacific took an early 1-0 lead in the weekend finale and held Kent State scoreless until early in the second half when it knotted the score. The Flashes then broke the tie after Silvia Figa-Malgosa collected a rebound in front of the cage and shot it into the corner of the net.

But minutes later, the Tigers countered after the ball went high into the net behind Rinehart on a Pacific drag.

However, Kent State took the lead for good after Delpech’s shot off a corner got deflected high by Figa-Malgosa and into the cage.

Kent State returns home to Murphy-Mellis Field to host Monmouth and Iowa this weekend and Northwestern and Ball State on September 18 and 23, respectively.