Kent State Field Hockey Comes Up Short in MAC Semifinals

Thursday, November 5

Oxford, Ohio

11:30 AM

Kent State University

(6-14)

UMass

(18-1)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kent St.	0	0	1	0	1
Massachusetts	3	1	0	1	5

Riley Welsch dribbling through UMass edited

Photo by: Elliot Wall

11/6/2026 11:10:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio – The Kent State Field Hockey team were defeated 1-5 by UMass in the MAC Tournament Semifinals on Thursday afternoon, completing their postseason run in a much-improved second half of the season.

The Golden Flashes got down early after the Minutewomen scored three goals in the first quarter. UMass is the nation's leading scoring team with 95 goals. Meanwhile, the Minutewomen's suffocating defense has given up only 10 goals on the season.

The variety of scorers on UMass' roster makes them a potent team to go up against. Neva Eisenga, Niamh McKenzie and Amber Fairon each scored in the first 15 minutes. Eisenga has 10 goals on the year, McKenzie, the unanimous MAC Offensive Player of the Year, has 20 goals on the year, and Fairon, the unanimous MAC Freshman of the Year, has 19 on the season.

Coming off the bench, UMass' Isla Campbell scored her eighth goal of the season off a slapshot from the top of the semicircle to open up the second quarter, increasing the Minutewomen's lead to four goals heading into halftime.

Despite the UMass lead, Kent State came out of the break with a newfound energy, consistently putting offensive pressure on the UMass back line and swiping a plethora of turnovers to control possession. The turning momentum led to a Ryli Zee goal that got Kent State on the board. Zee ended the season with two goals, while Maybritt Duwel's assist in the score gave her a team-leading five on the season.

Ryli Zee also got two defensive saves in the game to give her 16 on the year. In just one season, Zee broke the Kent State program career record for defensive saves, previously held by Clara Rodriguez Seto and Gina Van Pelt at 15. Her 16 defensive saves also breaks a MAC single-season record and is tied for the fourth-most defensive saves ever in a NCAA Division I field hockey season.

Zee's goal was counteracted late by Amber Fairon as she scored again for UMass with 35 seconds left in the game.

Overall, despite coming up a game short of the MAC Championship, the Flashes improved greatly over the course of the season. After starting the year 2-8 through August and September, Kent State flipped a switch with four wins in October and November, including their first MAC Tournament win since 2024.

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