Kent State women’s field hockey beat No. 5 Longwood University 2-1 Friday to advance to Saturday’s Mid-American Conference championship game at Miami University.

“This win felt really good especially since we didn’t see the results against them last weekend,” coach Kyle Desandes-Moyer said. “It definitely felt good to face Longwood again and we were really excited with how the team played and excited for tomorrow.” 

The Flashes offense took 21 total shots and both goals were scored by senior forward Laila Richter in the third and fourth.

“We came out very strong from the beginning of the game and we put a ton of pressure on them offensively,” Desandes-Moyer said. “We were playing against a very talented Longwood goalkeeper so it felt good to get those two goals by her. We trusted our game plan and kept faith that if we kept putting pressure on Longwood’s defense we would put a couple [goals] in.”

Kent had ten penalty corner opportunities and held Longwood to just two penalty opportunities. 

“We are going to continue to trust our penalty corner unit,” Desandes-Moyer said. “They were taking great shots and had really great opportunities, so we are going to continue to trust that tomorrow.”

Kent State’s defense held Longwood to just seven total shots and Longwood’s only goal game in the fourth period and was scored by sophomore midfielder Sophia Loscher.

“Our defense played outstanding and it started from our forwards all the way back to our defenders,” Desandes-Moyer said. “The mentality was to put pressure high up on the field and we didn’t have to play a ton of defense. I think that was a great point for us and helped us in the win.”

Kent used two goalies in the contest, junior Azure Fernsler in the first half and senior Mary Crumlish in the second half and they each recorded one save.

“The biggest thing for us tomorrow is that we need to be a little more disciplined defensively, be a little tighter in our game plan, and not make mistakes,” Desandes-Moyer said.

The Flashes will take either No 2. Miami University or No. 6 Appalachian State Saturday at 2 p.m. at Miami University.  

Contact Kathryn Rajnicek at [email protected]