First Place On The Line Friday vs. Louisville; Senior Day Saturday
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
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KENT, Ohio - In a marquee showdown of the top two teams in the MAC, Kent State and Louisville will battle for first place and possibly the MAC regular season championship at 2 p.m. this Friday at Dix Stadium. Kent State (5-1) currently sits a half game behind Louisville (6-1) who won the previous meeting, 3-1, back on Oct. 1 in Louisville. The Flashes will then play host to Miami at 1 p.m. Saturday on senior day.
Farewell Seniors
Four Kent State seniors will be playing their final home game at Dix Stadium Saturday vs. Miami and will be honored prior to game time. Carli Figlio, Tanya McAnally, Lauren Grandinetti and Jessica Schanz will all be playing their final game at Dix Stadium.Streakers
Kent State is currently riding a four-game winning streak and has won five of its last six games. The Golden Flashes currently sit a half game back for first place behind Louisville atop the MAC standings after crushing Ohio, 9-1, last week.Last Time Out
Kent State recorded a season-high nine goals and sophomore Kate Perry notched a career-best four goals as the Golden Flashes posted a 9-1 victory over Ohio University Oct. 17.Kent State dominated the game from start to finish, outshooting the Bobcats, 28-11, and extending its season-long winning streak to four games. Its nine goals were the most this season and the most since 2000 when Kent State defeated Miami, 10-0. Six different Golden Flashes recorded at least one point in the win.
Kent State fired out of the blocks immediately when Berber Rischen scored the games first goal :54 seconds into the game. Rischen finished the game with two goals and one assist. Perry scored the second goal of the game in the 16th minute of play and added three-consecutive in the second half. Freshman Kate McGowan added to her league-leading statistics with two goals and one assist. Liz Fettrow also netted a late goal to cap off the scoring for Kent State. Lauren Grandinetti tallied one assist on Perrys third goal of the game in the 43rd minute.
Linz Markwart played a solid 54 minutes in goal with five saves before giving way for freshman Kara Copeland, her first action of the year, in which she denied two late Ohio scoring opportunities.
Perry Enjoys Career Day
Kate Perry blew up for four goals in the 9-1 win over Ohio Sunday Oct. 17. For her efforts she garnered MAC Offensive Player of the Week and KSU Athlete of the Week honors. The honor was the first for Perry in her career and the fifth overall for Kent State in 2004.Perry recorded a hat-trick plus one, improving KSUs winning streak to four games. Perry scored Kent States second goal of the game in the 16th minute of play before exploding for three-consecutive goals in the second half to help the Flashes blow the game wide open. She recorded six total shots, four on goal and for the season, is second on the team with six goals and fourth with 12 points.
Second Wind
The Golden Flashes have turned it up in the second half of their games this season. Kent State has scored 22 of its 33 goals after halftime. In addition, they have recorded 103 of their 186 shots and 56 of their 93 penalty corners in the second half and beyond.Scouting Louisville
The Cardinals are in first place in the MAC with a 6-1 league mark after defeating Central Michigan and Ball State last weekend.Louisville is led offensively by Jessica Javelet who leads the team in goals (13), assists (9) and points (35). Suzanne Irwin is second with eight goals and three assists for 19 points. Marie-Claire Heller (7-4) has spent a majority of the time in goal for the Cardinals, allowing 22 goals and recording 46 saves.
Louisville is coached by Pam Bustin who is in her seventh season.
Though Louisville has won three of the last four, Kent State has the edge in the all-time series with Louisville, 23-6.
Last Time vs. Louisville
Kent State dropped a 3-1 decision to Louisville back on Oct. 1 in Louisville. Freshman Kate McGowan scored the lone goal for the Flashes in the loss. Jessica Javelet scored all three goals for Louisville.The Flashes fell behind 2-0 in the first half after Javelet scored the games first goal off a penalty corner in the 23rd minute of play, followed by her second goal four minutes later to give the Cardinals the 2-0 advantage at halftime. Javelet would then notch her third goal of the game with an unassisted tip in off a penalty corner in the 44th minute to put Louisville up, 3-0. McGowan recorded her eighth goal of the season in the 63rd minute to round out the scoring. Despite the final score, Kent State turned the tables and was the aggressor in the second half, outshooting the Cardinals 7-3 while holding an 8-4 advantage on penalty corners. Louisville recorded just one shot on goal in the second half. Linz Markwart recorded three saves and gave up three goals.
Scouting Miami
The RedHawks are still searching for their first conference victory of the season an are coming off a tough 2-1 overtime loss to Indiana Tuesday.Three different Miami RedHawks have three goals on the season, with Danielle Perrecone leading in points with nine on three goals and three assists. Goalkeeper Kerri Orr has played every minute in goal, recording 130 saves and four shutouts.
Miami is coached by Jill Reeve who is in her first season.
Kent State is 17-0 against Miami under Kerry De Vries and 31-22-2 all-time against the RedHawks.
Last Time vs. Miami
Lauren Grandinettis goal with 1:06 left in overtime lifted Kent State to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over the Miami RedHawks in Oxford, Ohio Oct. 2. Grandinetti drilled the game-winning shot on the run right between the pads of Miami goalkeeper Kerri Orr to seal the victory for the Flashes.After a scoreless first half in which Kent State outshot Miami, 7-3, KSU turned to its bread and butter, Kate McGowan, for the games first goal in the 45th minute of play to put Kent State up 1-0. Kent State held its lead over the next 21 minutes of play and appeared destined to leave Oxford with a 1-0 win until Deb Leightons deflection off a Miami penalty corner tied the game at 1-1 with four minutes remaining, forcing the overtime.
Kent State came out firing offensively to open the overtime period, showering the Miami defense with five shots until Grandinettis game winner sealed the win in the 84th minute.
A Glance At The Flashes
The Golden Flashes currently sit at 7-6 overall and 5-1 in the MAC after its 9-1 blowout victory over Ohio Sunday. Kent State, winners of four-straight and five of its last six, finished the non-conference season with victories over James Madison and Dartmouth and losses to No. 19 Northwestern*, Ohio State, No. 4 Duke*, No. 1 Michigan State* and No. 5 Wake Forest*. (*rankings at time of competition)After true freshman Kate McGowan scored a majority of Kent States goals early in the season, the rest of the Golden Flashes, particularly Liz Fettrow, Berber Rischen, and Kate Perry have heated up to help take some of the pressure off McGowan. McGowan still leads the team in points (27), goals (12), shots (79) and game-winning goals (2). Rischen is next with 15 points on four goals and seven assists while Fettrow is third with five goals and four assists for 14 points. Perrys hat-trick plus one catapulted her into fourth in scoring with 12 points on six goals. Lauren Grandinetti has tallied three goals and two assists for eight points. Goalkeeper Linz Markwart (7-6) has started all 13 games this season, recording 78 saves and two shutouts.
Freshman Phenom
Kent State freshman forward Kate McGowan has burst onto the scene in 2004, leading the Golden Flashes and the MAC in nearly ever offensive category and has tallied 12 goals in her first 13 games. In the season-opening win over James Madison Aug. 28, the Ireland native scored two goals and came back two games later to score three goals in the win over Dartmouth Sept 4. Through 13 games, McGowan leads the Flashes in goals (12), points (27), shots (79), shots-on-goal (40) and game-winning goals (2) among others.Numbers Dont Lie
The Golden Flashes are 3-0 this season when leading at halftime, 3-0 when scoring three or more goals and 6-1 when they outshoot their opponent. On the flip side, Kent State is 1-5 when its opponents outshoot them on the offensive end.Kent State Shares Top Spot In Preseason Poll
Kent State has been tabbed by the leagues head coaches to win the Mid-American Conference field hockey regular season championship with the University of Louisville. Both the Golden Flashes and the Cardinals received the same number of votes to win the conference. Louisville was selected to repeat as MAC tournament champions.Next Game
Kent State will wrap up the regular season next weekend (Oct. 29-30) when travel to Ball State at 3 p.m. Friday and Central Michigan at noon Saturday. The 2004 MAC Tournament will be held Nov. 4-6 in Muncie Ind.
