Murphy-Mellis Field will be the site where this year’s Mid-American Conference field hockey champions are crowned.

The good news for No. 2 Kent State is that they are the hosts of the 2014 tournament.

The co-regular season champions are eager to protect their home turf and defend their previous MAC tournament championship as they open up against No. 3 Miami University at 2 p.m. Friday.

Kent State field hockey coach Kathleen Wiler said it’s a news season when discussing the approach her team is taking for the upcoming tournament.

“What happened before is in the books and we need to embrace the challenge,” Wiler said.

The Flashes head into the tournament after losing to Central Michigan University to end the year with a share of the regular season title.

“We have a lot of motivation heading into the weekend because we feel that we should be the number one team,” Wiler said. 

Wiler will need to rely on her seniors to prepare everyone for what’s to come. The senior group will close their career competing in another MAC tournament championship.

“I want my seniors to play hard and put a performance up they will be proud of,” Wiler said.

The Flashes will look to MAC Player of the Year, senior Hannah Faulkner, as she ends her career as a Flash. Faulkner now owns the second longest scoring streak in Kent State history at nine games.

Kent State field hockey has played tough all year long against some good opponents and now is the time for the hard work to pay off.

“The key for us is not to put too much pressure on ourselves and go out there and have fun,” Wiler said.

Central Michigan University is the No. 1 seed, followed by Kent State University, Miami University and Ohio University.

Contact Ricky Salcer at [email protected].