Season Outlook: The Kent State field hockey team travels to East Lansing, Mich. with a 1-1 record following a loss to James Madison and a win against Appalachian State last weekend in Harrisonburg, Va.

Upcoming games: Kent State takes on the Monmouth University Hawks at 4 p.m. Friday at Ralph Young Field in the opening match of the Auto-Owners Insurance MSU Invitational, hosted by Michigan State University. The Flashes will then face No. 5 Syracuse at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Last Game: The Flashes look to build off their success from their last match, when they defeated the Appalachian State Mountaineers by a score of 6-2.

Last Year: The Flashes finished with a 9-13-0 record but won the regular season Mid-American Conference title with a 4-1 record in conference play. They also came within one goal of advancing to the NCAA Tournament in a narrow 2-1 defeat to Miami (OH) University in the MAC Tournament Championship game.

Monmouth: The Hawks ended up with an 8-13-0 record and lost by one goal in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game.

Syracuse: The Orange were a national powerhouse last year, finishing with a 19-3-0 record and advancing to the national semifinals before losing 6-1 to North Carolina.

Key Players: Seven different Flashes have scored goals this season, but sophomore forward Alexis Madeira and junior forward Jenna McHale lead the way with three points each in two games played.

The Coach: Head coach Kathleen Wiler comes into this weekend with an 81-71 overall record as the Flashes’ coach, including four seasons of more than 10 wins. Under Wiler, the team has finished first or second in the MAC six of the last seven years.

Player to look for: Madeira has registered a goal and an assist in 71 minutes of playing time this season. She is already halfway to tying her point total from last season (6), and she was one of only four Flashes who finished last season with a shot-on-goal percentage of at least .750.

Looking Ahead: After the MSU Invitational, the Flashes begin a five-game homestand against St. Louis University at 1 p.m on Sept. 13.

Contact Chris Ginley at [email protected].