Last Sunday, Megan Repas was the hero against Northern Illinois; this Sunday she one-upped her performance by being the lone scorer against a strong Cardinals team.

Repas shined and netted two goals Sunday to give the Kent State soccer team (10-6, 4-4) a big Mid-American Conference win over Ball State (9-5-3, 4-2-2).

Grabbing the lead just before half, Repas scored her first goal of the game in the 41st minute of the match. The much-needed goal was a big confidence boost for a Flashes squad that was behind in shots in the first half.

Cementing the victory in the 73rd minute, Repas got her second goal of the match to put the game out of reach.

Kent State coach Rob Marinaro knows just how important Repas’ play has been to the Flashes successes as of late.

“Her work rate was tremendous today,” Marinaro said. “She has some wonderful finishes, her first goal was just extremely well taken and it gave us the boost that we needed today.”

Of course scoring goals is crucial to getting a win, but even bigger than that is stopping opponents from scoring on them. For the sixth time this season, the Flashes’ defense was able to blank its opponents.

“I thought it was a fantastic defensive team effort,” Marinaro said. “We played really well defensively which gave us opportunities to counter-attack and put away a couple of opportunities.”

Playing solid all day in the net, senior Kelly Sherwood claimed her fifth shutout of the season. Stopping all five shots on net, Sherwood was crucial for the Flashes victory.

Sunday’s win marks a big accomplishment for the young flashes. After a 10-loss season last year, the team has turned it around to its first 10-win season since 2006.

“You have to give all the credit to the team and their commitment to holding a high standard their work rate,” Marinaro said. “They have really sacrificed everything to put themselves where they are.”

Friday was a much different story for the Flashes as Toledo bashed the Flashes for a 2-0 loss.

Struggling on both sides of the ball, the Flashes were out-shot 14-5 on offense and allowed the Rockets to take 16 corner kicks. The loss left a bad taste in the mouths of the Flashes as the team enters a crucial part of its schedule.

Coming into the homestretch of the MAC season, the Flashes are right in the middle of the pack at 4-4. Rival Akron is next on the schedule for the Flashes, a team that has plagued the Flashes for some time.

Last season at Akron, the Flashes fell to the Zips 2-1 in double-overtime. This game has the makings of a classic Kent-Akron game as the Zips come in with a 6-6-2 record and 3-3-2 in the MAC.

Marinaro says he isn’t looking past Akron and expects a hard fought game despite their weak record so far this season. Kick-off is set for 4 p.m. at Zoeller Field.

Contact Matt Lofgren at [email protected].

Follow Matt Lofgren on Twitter @gonzoEdu