The Kent State Golden Flashes persevered strong rains and defeated Ball State 4-0 in the Mid-American Conference Quarterfinals Sunday. Kent State has advanced to the semifinal round for the first time since 2006.

“I’m extremely proud of our team,” head coach Rob Marinaro said. “Today’s weather could have neutralized the game very easily and we weren’t able to use a lot of our tactics but they battled really hard and I felt that it was a really well-deserved win for them.”

A corner kick in the 15th minute by junior Jaclyn Dutton was sent to senior Sara Henderson who knocked the ball in from the far post. The Flashes scored again in the 37th minute, ending the first half 2-0. Junior Morgan Mah assisted junior Megan Jackson with the second goal.

“We had to battle most of the game,” Mah said. “We had to fight through the field conditions, weather conditions so I felt that we did really well as a team going forward.”

Dutton tallied her 15th goal of the season in the 73rd minute when senior Hannah Newhouse sent a long free kick to junior Megan Johnson. Johnson passed it to Dutton who shot from 15 yards to the far post.

Less than three minutes later junior Jessacca Gironda scored again when sophomore Stephanie Haugh sent Gironda the ball. Gironda shot the ball into the net after defeating the goalkeeper one-on-one.

“I think it’s well deserved,” Marinaro said. “We really have been pushing the program to move forward and this is just another goal that we’ve moved forward with and proud and we can keep on going to get the next one.”

The Flashes play against top-seeded Miami in the MAC Championship Semifinals Friday. Central Michigan and Toledo will face off in the MAC-West Semifinals.

Contact Erika Bruna at [email protected].