Kent State University
UMass
Massachusetts Road Trip Up Next for Field Hockey
9/18/2025 12:00:00β―PM | Field Hockey
The Kent State field hockey team (1-4) closes a six-game road stand this weekend with the team's first MAC contest of the season on Friday at No. 12 UMass, before closing the non-conference slate at UMass Lowell on Sunday. Friday's MAC opener with the Minutewomen is set to begin at 4 p.m., while Sunday's non-conference finale with the River Hawks is a noon start.
UMass: WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES
UMass Lowell: WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES
About the Flashes
The Golden Flashes open MAC play with Friday's contest at No. 12 UMass, marking the first-ever meeting between the two schools as conference opponents. The Minutewomen are the conference favorites, after being voted first in the MAC preseason poll ahead of the team's first year in the conference. In 2024, Kent State went 5-3 in the MAC, earning the four seed in the postseason conference tournament. The Flashes defeated Ball State 1-0 in overtime of the quarterfinal before falling just short of a major comeback in a 3-2 defeat to one-seed James Madison in the conference semifinal.
Maybritt Duwel sits alone atop Kent State's goal scoring tally after finding the back of the cage in Sunday's 5-2 defeat at No. 17 Penn State. The junior from the Netherlands now has four goals on the season, just ahead of Emma Rolston and Emma Seger, who each have three goals in 2025. The Flashes' top scorer in 2024, Eva Usoz, also found her way on the score sheet in last Sunday's game for her second goal of the season.
No. 12 UMass will be Kent State's fourth ranked opponent in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll of the 2024 season. The Flashes have already faced a trio of ranked Big Ten opponents, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 15 Iowa, and No. 17 Penn State, in the team's non-conference slate. The Flashes have not recorded a ranked victory since a 4-3 overtime win against No. 25 Maine in 2021. Miami, which Kent State plays on September 26, was ranked No. 20 in last week's edition of the poll, but dropped out after losses to No. 15 Iowa and No. 1 Northwestern.
In 2024, the Golden Flashes recorded just one victory outside of the Mid-American Conference, a 4-3 stroke-off win at Michigan State. Kent State has matched this mark with the team's season-opening 10-1 win over Mercyhurst. The Golden Flashes have one more opportunity to eclipse the mark with Sunday's non-conference finale at UMass Lowell.
Scouting No. 12 UMass
UMass enters Friday's tilt at a perfect 6-0 due in large part to a rock-solid defense in 2025. The Minutewomen have conceded just five goals through six games, anchored by senior goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen, who is top ten nationally in goals against average (0.75) and save percentage (0.853). Van Herwijnen has won back-to-back MAC goalkeeper of the week awards to open the season, while defender Neva Eisenga won the opening MAC defensive player of the week award this season. UMass claimed a signature 2-1 stroke-off victory at No. 4 Boston College last Friday, before recording a 3-2 road victory at Dartmouth to remain unbeaten in 2025.
Friday's matchup is just the third all-time meeting with UMass for the Flashes. In both of Kent State's previous trips to Amherst, the Minutewomen have been victorious, with the most recent meeting coming in 2015. The Flashes' lone victory over UMass came in a 2011 neutral-site clash in Iowa City, a 3-2 overtime win.
Scouting UMass Lowell
Sunday is Kent State's last chance to claim a second non-conference win in 2025. UMass Lowell enters the weekend at 2-4 on the season and will face New Haven on Friday before Sunday's contest with the Flashes. The River Hawks won 5-2 at Queens last Friday before suffering a 9-1 defeat at Wake Forest last Sunday. UMass Lowell is led offensively by sophomore midfielder Karlijn Kerkhof, who has team highs of five goals and five assists this season. Freshman defender Rena Pistilli was awarded America East rookie of the week for a two-goal performance at Yale earlier this season.
Sunday will mark the first time Kent State has ever faced UMass Lowell as the Flashes travel to take on the America East outfit.
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