Flashes Can't Fight Off Northwestern Comeback, Lose 3-2

Sunday, September 5

Evanston, Ill.

2:00 p.m.

Kent State University

3-2-0, 0-0-0

Northwestern

2-3-0, 0-0-0

Kent St.

Northwestern

Photo by: Gabby Kingston

Flashes Can't Fight Off Northwestern Comeback, Lose 3-2

9/5/2021 4:16:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

(EVANSTON, Ill.) - On Sunday afternoon, the Kent State women's soccer team lost on the road to Northwestern, 3-2. This puts the Golden Flashes' record at 3-2 for the season.

Heading into this game, head coach Rob Marinaro knew that topping the favored Wildcats would be a challenge. However, his Golden Flashes did anything but roll over against Northwestern, coming out with poise and determination to pull off the upset.

In the 20th minute, Kent State became the first team of the day to get on the board, when freshman midfielder Siena Stambolich knocked through a goal, assisted by fellow freshman midfielder Alisa Arthur. But that lead would double in size less than three minutes later, when senior forward Khyla Porter launched a ball of her own into the back of the net, with assists coming from Dalaney Ranallo and Karly Hellstrom. 21:47 in to the game, the Flashes were shocking everyone.

But facing a team like Northwestern on their own turf, it was only a matter of time before the Wildcats responded. And at the 32:53 mark, they did just that, when Josie Aulicino cut the lead in half, assisted by Regan Steigleder and Aurea Martin. Another quick score less than two minutes later, by Steigleder on an Aulicino assist, made things deadlocked going into halftime.

But they would only stay that way for five minutes after the teams returned from their locker rooms. At exactly the 50 minute mark in the game, Northwestern grabbed their third unanswered goal, this time by Ingrid Falls and again assisted by Aulicino. This made the score 3-2 Wildcats with 40 minutes to play.

The Flashes attempted to even things back up over that time, but Northwestern's defense stood tall, and not another goal was scored on either side the rest of the way. Despite a promising early portion of the game, Kent State would end up falling to Northwestern, 3-2.

Kent State's totals were similar to Northwestern's in shots (six to nine) and saves (one to two). But where the Wildcats separated themselves from the Flashes was in saves, of which they had double the amount that Kent State did (10 vs. five), along with fouls, of which the Flashes sustained three times as many as Northwestern (18 vs. six). Additionally, Kent State was given two yellow cards over the course of the match, while Northwestern played card-free ball for all 90 minutes.

Now the Flashes will have a full week to prepare for their next game, which will be at Oakland next Sunday. That match is set to kick off at 1 P.M.