Johl scores two game-winners as field hockey sweeps home
October 29, 2011
Weekend by the numbers
42: Kent State’s weekend shots total
26-5: Kent State out shot Central Michigan 26-5 on Saturday
24: Kent State’s weekend shots on goal total
21: Penalty corners earned by Kent State over the weekend
13: Flashes goalkeeper Jahna Jordan made 13 saves over the weekend
4: Carla Johl and Julia Hofmann combined to score four goals over the weekend for Kent State.
2: Total goals allowed by Kent State in two games.
1: Winning margin of both Friday and Saturday’s overtime victories for Kent State
Kent State entered the final weekend of the regular season with one goal on its players’ minds: win out.
The Flashes did just that, with victories over Mid-American Conference foes Central Michigan and Ohio. Kent State hosted the Bobcats on Friday and came away with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory. The Flashes capitalized on strong team defense and forced overtime, where senior Carla Johl was able to knock in a rebound for a game-winning goal with only two seconds remaining in the period.
Johl continued to find success in overtime on Saturday when she scored her second game-winning goal in as many days to lift the Flashes over Central Michigan.
“Deb (Bell) put a great ball in through to me, so I just had to put on the finishing touches,” Johl said.
Kent State (7-12, 5-5 MAC) began the weekend trailing Central Michigan by two games in the MAC standings and needed to win its remaining two games to have a chance at securing the second seed in the conference tournament. The Flashes completed the weekend sweep with a 2-1 victory over the Chippewas.
“They executed beautifully in overtime,” said Kent State coach Kathleen Wiler. “They did exactly what we asked them to do and that was to possess the ball, pick one pass at a time. I told them they can score in seven seconds. It took us a little bit longer than that, but I think it was perfect.”
Wiler was encouraged by her team’s offensive performance. Kent State possessed the ball in opponent’s territory all weekend, where they were able to capitalize when it mattered most.
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“We had a lot of opportunities,” Wiler said. “I think we’re firing on all cylinders, which is great.”
Kent State’s weekend motto revolved around fighting for victories, which Wiler hopes will result in a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
“We wanted this win so badly, and we’re fighting for second place in the MAC, and we went out there to do it, and we did it,” Johl said.
The two-game winning streak is something that Wiler believes will propel the Flashes to conference tournament victories.
“I think it’s huge,” Wiler said. “I think they tasted victory yesterday and they weren’t going to be denied today, and I think this is the momentum we need going into the tournament.”
The MAC tournament begins on Thursday, Nov. 3 at Ohio University. Tournament seedings are undetermined, as decisive conference games still remain to be completed before the end of the weekend. Kent State, which finished the season with a .500 conference winning percentage, will head into the tournament with a new-found attitude, thanks to a successful final weekend.
“It’s gonna give us a lot of confidence, and we’ve sort of finally got to a point where we feel like we’re really on track, and we’re playing the kind of hockey that we know we can play,” Johl said.
“It makes us very excited to go into the MAC (tournament),” Johl said. “No one can really compete with us now, is kind of the attitude we want to go in with.”
Contact Nick Shook at [email protected] and at @Shookie_Cookie.
