Flashes Silence Central Michigan at MAC Tournament
11/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Athens, Ohio - Kent State unleashed four first-half goals on its way to a 6-0 victory over Central Michigan Thursday afternoon (Nov. 2) in the opening round of the 2006 MAC Tournament at Peggy Pruitt Field. The Golden Flashes advance to Friday's semifinal round (Nov. 3) and will take on top seeded Ohio on its home field.
Nine minutes into the game, sophomore forward Natalie Barrett (Glasgow, Scotland) spun around a defender at the top of the circle and ripped a shot into the cage to give the Flashes a 1-0 lead.
The Flashes continued to put the offensive pressure on in the first half as Charlotte Muller (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) smashed a straight-on shot into the goal on a penalty corner at the 12:55 mark. Kate Perry (W. Vancouver, B.C./Collingwood) and Stephanie Bernthal (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park) each had assists on the corner play.
KSU found further success on corner plays at the 29 minute mark. Muller recieved the ball at the top of the circle and passed across the circle to Liz Fettrow (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), who ripped a shot towards the far post that was tipped in by Anna McComb (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) behind the keeper. McComb's second goal of the year gave the Flashes a 3-0 lead.
With just over a minute to play in the half, another penalty corner led to a series of shots that was finished off on a rebound by Perry. Three minutes into the second half, Perry extended the lead to five, scoring on a penalty stroke. The senior forward's second goal of the game was her 14th of the season.
Five minutes later, Elizabeth Lahey (Laconia, N.H./Laconia) took a shot that put CMU keeper Danielle Frank on the ground to make a save. Barrett took the wedged ball away from Frank's pads and lifted it over Frank's head for her second goal of the game.
Senior goalkeeper Linz Markwart (Miller Place N.Y./Miller Place) played the entire 70 minutes in goal and made four saves in her second shutout of the season. Markwart now owns six career shutouts.
"It was our best performance of the year," said Head Coach Kathleen Schanne. "We worked on attacking the circle all week and kept pressing offensively today. We had some great attacking play moving from the midfield to the forwards. Natalie's first goal was beautiful and Linz made some great saves."
The KSU defense held Samantha Sandham, the MAC's leading goal-score, to just two shots.
"We took her (Sandham) out of the game for the most part," said Schanne. "We put a ton of pressure on her and her teammates couldn't get the ball to her."
Last season's MAC Tournament champions, the Chippewas defeated Kent State 2-0 in the 2005 MAC Tournament semifinals. Central Michigan (11-10) had also won both regular season contests with the Flashes this year.
The Golden Flashes (7-14, 3-7 MAC) and Bobcats (11-8, 8-2) will begin play at noon Friday, with the winner advancing to the championship game on Saturday.
