Veteran Golden Flashes Aim to Build off Historic Season
8/15/2017 4:05:00 PM | Women's Soccer
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State women's soccer team enters the 2017 season with a veteran group of upperclassmen that played crucial roles in capturing the program's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and Mid-American Tournament Championship last year. The Golden Flashes begin the season on the road at Purdue on Friday, August 18th, with the home opener at Dix Stadium on Sunday, August 20th against Cleveland State.
Head Coach Rob Marinaro enters his 17th season at the helm. A year ago, Marinaro was recognized as MAC Coach of the Year for the third time to tie the conference record as he guided Kent State to a program-record 15 wins en route to a conference tournament crown and trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Flashes also set school records with a 13-match unbeaten streak and 26 points in the MAC standings.
"We are looking forward to getting the season started," said Marinaro. "I know this group will continue building on the process started on day one and get better with each practice. We have a strong senior class, and I am confident they will provide the leadership needed to bring along a large incoming class."
The core of last year's squad is back with eight returning starters as part of a veteran roster with seven seniors and five juniors. The Flashes boast five players — Kristen Brots (MAC All-Tournament Team), Donavan Capehart (NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team, All-MAC Second Team), Paige Culver (All-MAC First Team, MAC All-Tournament Team), Jaime Eiben (CoSIDA Academic All-America® Third Team) and Ashleah McDonald (NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team) —who garnered postseason honors a year ago.
Kent State led the MAC with 38 goals scored last season, the third most in program history, and boasts the second-highest scoring tandem in the conference in seniors Hayden Pascoe (6g, 5a) and Donavan Capehart (6g, 4a). Pascoe has ranked among the top five in the conference in assists each of the past two seasons. Capehart is one of the most prolific goal scorers in Kent state history and notched a MAC-best 12 goals in 2015.
Seniors Kristen Brots (4g, 2a) and Karli Paracca (3g) provide two additional scoring threats for the Flashes. Brots tallied three game-winning goals last season, including the lone score in the MAC Tournament championship match. Junior Dominique DiNardo (1g, 1a), senior Mackenzie Lesnick (1a) and sophomore Katie Kovacs (1a) were other attacking players who registered points in 2016.
Kent State retained all but one player from a defensive unit that smothered its opposition last season. The Flashes recorded nine shutouts and surrendered more than one goal just four times while registering a 0.85 goals against average.
Junior Ashleah McDonald had one of the best seasons ever by a Kent State goalkeeper a year ago. McDonald set a school record with 14 victories and her seven shutouts and 0.90 goals against average both rank second on the school's single-season lists. Senior Katie Kingsbury was terrific in limited action between the pipes, tallying nine saves while not allowing a goal on 21 shots faced.
The Flashes return a group of defenders that logged more than 6,600 minutes last season, led by senior Jaime Eiben (1g, 3a), junior Paige Culver (1g, 2a) and sophomore Sierra Henderson-Muschett. Sophomore Amanda Reed (2a), junior Cassandra Sauter and sophomore Maddie LaVigna (1a) also saw action on the back line.
The Golden Flashes will play a challenging eight match non-conference schedule facing two NCAA Tournament teams from last year in Dayton and Florida Gulf Coast. The conference portion of the slate will feature 11 contests against MAC foes.
Kent State will host nine matches this year and all will be played at Dix Stadium. The Flashes are 13-1-2 at home the last two seasons.
Be sure to follow Kent State Soccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates about the squad.
