Kent State University
Ohio
Flashes Open MAC Play Against Ohio
9/21/2022 12:40:00 PM | Women's Soccer
KENT, Ohio – In a rematch of last season's MAC Tournament semifinal match, Kent State soccer will host Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 22, in the conference opener for both squads. Game time from Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes (0-5-2) have not seen the field since Sunday, Sept. 11, when they squared off against No. 22 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. After allowing two goals in the first 17 minutes, sophomore Alisa Arthur sent a free kick into the box and found junior Dalaney Ranallo, who hammered past the Buckeyes' keeper to cut the lead in half. Try as they might, the Flashes were unable to find the equalizer and fell 2-1.
Ranallo is tied for the team lead in goals with fellow junior Callie Cunningham, while Arthur shares the lead in assists with redshirt senior Tianna Harris.
Scouting the Bobcats
Ohio (4-2-1) was picked to win the regular season title in the 2022 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll and received two votes to win the conference tournament. The Bobcats have won four of their last five matches, with their lone loss in that stretch coming against No. 12 Notre Dame. Most recently, the Bobcats topped Western Carolina 3-0 to wrap up their nonconference slate.
The Bobcats are strong on both sides of the ball. Defensively, Ohio has tallied four shutouts through seven matches, tied for the most in the MAC, and has also boasts one of the strongest attacks in the MAC, scoring a conference-best 21 goals so far on the year. Nearly half of those goals came in an 11-0 route of VMI earlier this month in which nine different Bobcats scored.
Ohio is led by a pair of graduate students, defender Sidney Dawson and forward Abby Townsend. Dawson is the anchor on the Bobcats' back line, while Townsend, last week's MAC Offensive Player of the Week, paces the scoring attack. Townsend leads the team with four goals and five assists this season, and for her career, she has the most assists (26) and the third-most goals (17) of any current MAC player.
Junior forward Shae Robertson has scored nine goals in her career, the fifth-most of any active MAC players and one more than Tianna Harris, who is tied for sixth with eight career goals.
Series History
This will be the 33rd meeting between the intrastate foes. KSU holds the advantage in the all-time series, 15-14-3 .
Last season, the Flashes traveled to Athens for the regular season finale as the teams shared the top spot in the conference standings. Scoreless after 90 minutes, the game went into an overtime period, and when neither team scored then, a second extra period followed. Defenses prevailed, and the game ended in a scoreless draw.
Seven days later, the No. 3 Flashes found themselves facing the No. 2 Bobcats in the semifinal match of the MAC Tournament (the regular season draw gave Bowling Green the conference's coveted top spot, while Ohio won the tiebreaker with Kent State for the second seed). With the score level at 2-2, Kent State netted an 86th-minute dagger to send the Flashes to the conference final and end the Bobcats' season.
Follow the Flashes
For more information on the Kent State soccer team, follow Kent State Soccer on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and visit kentstatesports.com for additional information.
