
Offensive Outburst Leads Flashes over Cardinals in Important MAC Win
10/9/2026 8:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State Field Hockey team defeated Ball State 4-1 on Friday afternoon for a huge conference victory. The Golden Flashes had their best offensive day of the season with four goals and 11 shots on goal.
The offensive variety of goal scorers and shots taken were immensely improved in the Ball State victory as was the passing ability of the Golden Flashes. Kent State nearly doubled their assist total for the entire season in just the game against Ball State as they tallied five assists. Kent State Head Coach Heather Hefner spoke postgame about the offensive output in the MAC win.
"Four different goal scorers is huge and it's just a testament to the work that the girls have been putting in," Hefner said. "We trained our circle attack like crazy since last Friday and told the girls we got to put the ball in the back of the net."
The first to do just that was sophomore back Emily Robertson. The Melbourne, Australia native scored off a penalty corner opportunity in the second period with assists by Ryli Zee and Lauren Conroy. The goal put the Flashes up 1-0 and was Robertson's first collegiate career goal. Zee and Conroy each finished the game with two assists and are two of the leading facilitators on the team. Robertson spoke postgame about her goal and what it meant for the team to get off to a good start in the game.
"It was so fun to be able to score and celebrating with everyone was obviously so awesome," Robertson said. "Our team deserved that goal after all the hard work we put in in the first quarter."
Helping to keep the Kent State lead heading into halftime was Ryli Zee. The sophomore back tallied yet another defensive save in the first half to stop a certain Ball State goal. Zee still leads the MAC in defensive saves by a wide margin and is one of the top in the statistic in the nation as well. Zee spoke postgame about her consistent ability to block near the net.
"Really [defensive saves] are just a pride piece, I want to do anything to keep them from scoring on us," Zee said.
Although Ball State tied the game up at one at the beginning of the second half, Eva Usoz quickly put Kent State back on top with her 7th goal of the year just two minutes later. The score remained 2-1 in advantage of Kent State heading into the fourth.
The scoring didn't slow down for Kent State in the final frame as both Marissa Skinner and Maybritt Duwel scored to give the Golden Flashes their biggest goal differential in a win this season.
Up Next
The Golden Flashes face the Penn State Nittany Lions for a non-conference matchup on Sunday, Oct. 11 at noon for the Morgan's Message game. The first 125 fans will get a Morgan's Message t-shirt.
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Players Mentioned
Team Stats

Emily Robertson
Assisted By: Ryli Zee , Lauren Conroy
GOAL by Kent St. Emily Robertson (FIRST GOAL), Assist by Ryli Zee and Lauren Conroy
29:35

Emalene HARTER
GOAL by Ball St. Emalene HARTER
35:03

Eva Usoz
Assisted By: Ryli Zee , Lauren Conroy
GOAL by Kent St. Eva Usoz, Assist by Ryli Zee and Lauren Conroy
37:30

Marissa Skinner
Assisted By: Eva Usoz
GOAL by Kent St. Marissa Skinner, Assist by Eva Usoz
52:37

Marybritt Duwel
GOAL by Kent St. Marybritt Duwel
56:29













































