Flashes Gain Sole Possession of First Place
10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
ATHENS, Ohio - Rachel Miller had a hand in all three second half goals as Kent State (9-4, 4-1 MAC) made a strong conference statement Friday afternoon (Oct. 10) with a 3-0 shutout of Ohio (5-7, 3-2 MAC) at Pruitt Field. Less than two weeks after falling to the Bobcats at home, the Golden Flashes repaid the favor with their fourth straight road victory.
Kent State, Ohio and Miami sat in a three-way tie for first place in the MAC heading into Friday, but only the Flashes can make that claim heading into Saturday as the RedHawks fell to Central Michigan 3-2.
"We did a good job of sticking to the game plan and it worked," Assistant Coach Rich Sutton said. "We knew what Ohio did well the first time and we made adjustments."
After a scoreless first half, Debbie Bell put the Flashes on the board with her league-leading 15th goal of the season. It happened just over three minutes into the second half when Miller charged the right side of the circle and sent a crossing pass to Bell, who put a low backhander behind the goalkeeper.
Less than one minute later, KSU earned a penalty corner and Miller sent a shot toward the goal that was redirected in by Nicole Leach. It was the third goal in two games for Leach, who took her season total to seven.
"A lot of work we've been doing up front paid off today," Sutton said of the attackers.
Miller and the Golden Flashes took advantage of another penalty corner with 15 minutes to play in the game. Allison Kittelberger's injection set up Stephanie Bernthal's stick stop and Miller's shot hit off a defender and went in the top of the cage. The sophomore midfielder brought her season totals to seven goals and seven assists.
Kittleberger raked in her seventh assist of the year, while Bernthal chalked up assist number four. Caroline Suitch recorded her second straight shutout, giving her four on the season. The Bobcats placed just two shots on goal, one coming late in the game.
"We defended very well," Sutton said. "We had some low strong tackling and we had a little more energy this time around."
The Golden Flashes will take their three-game winning streak back to Kent as they host Missouri State Sunday (Oct. 12) at Murphy-Mellis Field. Action with the Bears (6-5, 1-1 MAC) begins at noon.
