Kent State University
Ohio
Soccer’s MAC Tournament Quest Begins at Ohio
10/27/2018 11:34:00 AM | Women's Soccer
ATHENS, Ohio – The Kent State women's soccer team (10-7-2, 6-4-1 MAC) embarks on Mid-American Conference Tournament play as the No. 5 seed and will take on the No. 4 seed Ohio (8-7-3, 6-3-2 MAC) in the quarterfinal round in Athens on Sunday, Oct. 28th at 1 p.m. This is the second consecutive year the Golden Flashes and Bobcats will meet in the quarterfinals after playing the last regular season game earlier in the week.
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes closed out the regular season with a 1-0 victory on the road against the Bobcats on Thursday afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Maddie Holmes scored the game-winner in the 48th minute on a rebound off the keeper for her sixth goal of the campaign. Senior midfielder Cassandra Sauter also tallied her first assist of the year.
Redshirt Freshman goalkeeper Faith O'Neill held strong in net and made a career-high seven saves on 11 shots while registering her sixth shutout of the season. Kent State outshot Ohio, 12-11, and led in corner kicks, 10-1. The Golden Flashes continued their success against the Bobcats and have not dropped a match against Ohio since 2009.
#FlashFacts
- Kent State has recorded 10 or more wins in every season since 2011 and is the only MAC team to accomplish the feat. KSU is joined by Ball State as the only teams to qualify for the league tournament in each of the last eight seasons.
- Kent State's 36 goals this season is second in the MAC and only trails the regular season champion, Bowling Green, by two goals. It's the fifth most goals and points (95) in a season in school history.
- The Golden Flashes have won five MAC weekly awards this season. Sophomore midfielder Vital Kats, senior forward Dominque DiNardo, sophomore forward Isabelle Mihail and freshman forward Khyla Porter have all earned offensive player of the week recognition and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Faith O'Neill earned defensive honors.
- Senior defender Paige Culver has started 79 games in her career which is tied for second in school history. Britt Laing (2003-06) made the most starts in program history with 81.
-Freshman Khyla Porter, junior Yasmine Hall, and sophomores Maddie Holmes, Vital Kats, and Isabelle Mihail have each scored two goals in a match this season. It's the first time in program history that five different players in a single-season have recorded multi-goal games.
- Kats has recorded nine assists this season, which is tied for 11th nationally and is 22nd with 0.5 assists per game. She is tied for fifth in program history with Nicole Downey (1999). She is in a four-way tied for eighth in the school record book with 23 points along with Stephanie Haugh (2012), Lauren Caminati (2003) and Kelly Haggard (1998).
- Kent State is 2-0-2 in overtime matches and 7-1 when scoring multiple goals in a match this season.
- Senior goalkeeper Ashleah McDonald now stands atop the program record book with 36 career victories and passed Stephanie Senn (2013-15) against Syracuse on September 13th.
- Goalkeeper Faith O'Neill registered an assist on DiNardo's game-winning goal at Akron in double-overtime. She's the first Kent State net minder with an assist since Stephanie Senn on October 5, 2014 against Western Michigan.
MAC Tournament History
Kent State is making its 15th appearance in the MAC Tournament in program history has a record of 7-11-5. The Golden Flashes are 3-1-1 in their last five tournament games and won the championship for the first time in 2016.
Scouting Ohio
The Bobcats have won four of their six five matches with three shutouts. Ohio is led offensively by junior Alivia Milesky's 14 points. The Bobcats have seven shutouts and have used two different goalies in net. Ohio was selected to finish eighth in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll and is led by fifth-year head coach Aaron Rodgers.
Series History
Kent State has not dropped a match against Ohio since the 2009 season, outscoring the MAC foe, 20-9 in that time. The Golden Flashes lead the all-time series 13-11-2. The two teams met twice last season and Kent State took the regular season match, 2-1. The Bobcats and Flashes met later that week in the MAC Tournament quarterfinal, and Kent State advanced on penalty kicks, 4-2.
Follow the Flashes
Be sure to follow Kent State Soccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and in-match updates about the squad.
