Kent State’s lacrosse team got one of its best players back from injury and played its best game of the season to beat Presbyterian 15-12.

It was the first win of the season for Kent State, which is 1-3. Presbyterian is 1-2.

Senior midfielder Madison Rapier, who had missed KSU’s first three games, came off the bench and scored a goal.

“It was awesome having her back out there,” coach Brianne Tierney said. “She was able to give us important minutes, and the team was excited to have her back out there.”

The Flashes fell behind 3-0 early in the first quarter but answered with eight straight goals and held Presbyterian scoreless for 25 minutes.

“That was a complete effort,” Tierney said. “This team kept grinding, and we found a way to get back in the game.

“We’re excited that we could get our first win of the season. It wasn’t an easy win, so that will help us going forward.”

Presbyterian scored four goals in the first five minutes of the second half, but the Flashes answered with four goals of their own making it a 9-8 game.

Tierney said in the fourth quarter players stepped up when the team needed them the most.

“Whenever we needed a stop or score, we did just that, unlike in the past three games when we’d commit a turnover,” she said.

Junior attacker Kenzie Sklar led the Flashes with five goals and leads the team this season with 13. Sophomore attacker Jackie Wolford and senior attacker Kelli Bailey added three goals each.

After converting only one free position shot in six attempts against Akron Wednesday, KSU converted four of six against Presbyterian.

The Flashes had 29 shots, with 24 on goal; Presbyterian had 22 shots, with 18 on goal.

“Everyone played so well,” Rapier said. “We shared the ball and celebrated everyone’s success which was able to bring the energy up throughout the game.”

Kent State will remain in South Carolina, taking on Wofford (1-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Jacob Shondel is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].