Kent State tripped up in Mid-American Conference opener Friday afternoon 2-1 for the team’s first home loss of the season, fall to 6-3 on the year.

“I think we short-ended ourselves a little bit, I think our performance needs to be better if we are going to produce wins in conference,” Kent State coach Rob Marinaro said. “We went away from what we’ve been trying to do all season, we got a little panicked there when we went down one and we went away from playing our game.”

Miami broke the scoring column first in the 46th minute of the game just after half. In the 75th minute the Redhawks scored again to put them on top 2-0.

The Flashes got a last chance effort in the 86th minute when senior Jenni Stapleton hit a place kick on goal that was headed in by senior Vanessa Salerno. After the goal the Flashes’ offense picked up for one final push for a goal, but could not capitalize.

With a tough MAC season just getting under way, Marinaro knows the team will face more physical games like this one.

“I talked with the team about being more aggressive, and the battles in the conference are going to be won and loss with physical play,” Marinaro said. “It’s a part of the game but we need to step up and face those challenges.”

The Flashes will play Bowling Green Sunday at 1 p.m. at home.