KSU soccer splits pair of weekend matches
Ball State midfielder Cailey Starck blocks Kent State Stephanie Haugh Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014. The Cardinals beat the Flashes 1-0.
October 20, 2014
Missed opportunities continue to plague Kent State’s soccer team.
The Flashes dominated the stat book once again, but couldn’t muster a single goal and dropped to 8-5-3 after a crushing 1-0 MAC East loss to Bowling Green on Sunday.
Coming into Sunday’s game, the Falcons were 3-11, but even after being beat statistically on paper by Kent State, they came away with a victory after forward Skylar Fleak scored the game’s lone goal in the 27th minute of action.
Kent State outshot Bowling Green, 25-11, and had nine corner kick’s to BGSU’s two but wasn’t able to capitalize on those opportunities and ultimately earned its second loss in three games.
The weekend wasn’t a total disaster, however. On Friday, the Flashes managed to outlast MAC West opponent Eastern Michigan in a 2-1 overtime victory in Ypsilanti.
Kent State and EMU tied each other with 14 shots and seven shots on goal, but in the 97th minute, Kent State freshman defender Jaime Eiben netted her first career goal on only her second career shot to secure the victory.
This weekend was Kent State’s seventh weekend slate on Friday and Sunday games this season. The Flashes have only swept one weekend, which was at the UNLV Tournament in Las Vegas in which they beat St. Francis and 24th-ranked Colorado. In six of the seven weekends, however, Kent State tallied at least one win.
Friday’s win and Sunday’s loss are a testament to Kent State’s inconsistency this season.
“Today was extremely disappointing, coming off a win against Eastern (Michigan),” Marinaro said. “You have to have the quality to come back and (win) again.”
With its MAC record at 3-3-2 now, Kent State is still third in the MAC East with 11 total MAC points. The Flashes are behind Miami, with 16, and Buffalo, with 17. With each division win being worth three points, the Flashes must win two of their three remaining games to at least tie Buffalo or Miami for the division championship, providing that Buffalo loses its remaining games and Miami only notches a tie from here on out.
Kent State coach Rob Marinaro said he’s going to take the remaining schedule one game at a time because his main concern is consistency.
Even with a slim chance of winning the division and having a middle-of-the-road record, Marinaro said he fully believes in his team.
“We’re capable of beating anybody,” Marinaro said. “We have the confidence of knowing that when we play well, we give ourselves a great opportunity to win.”
The Flashes will return to action at home this coming weekend when they host Toledo on Friday at 4 p.m. and Central Michigan on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Zoeller Field.
Contact Ben Orner at [email protected].
