Kent State University
Ball State
11/6/2026 1:44:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Columbus, Ohio- The Kent State Soccer enters the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the 19th time in 27 years as a program after a third-place regular-season finish in the conference on Saturday.Â
In the quarterfinals, the Flashes will match-up with the sixth-seeded Ball State Cardinals for a rematch of last year's MAC quarterfinal contest at Scott-Miracle-Gro Field, home of the Columbus Crew, for a 1 P.M. first kick.
Last Time Out
The Kent State Soccer finished-up the regular season with a win at home over the Central Michigan Chippewas on Sunday by a score of 2-1. The victory extended KSU's unbeaten streak to six games and clinched them a top-three seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament down in Columbus. It will be the 19th time the blue and gold have qualified for the conference tournament in 27 years as a program.
Both defenses started off strong, but the Flashes were able to get on the board first late in the first half as Samantha Miller scored on a header on assists from Jules Dolinski and Ava Lukyan in the 36th-minute to give the Flashes a 1-0 lead heading into the halftime break.
The Flashes kept the offense moving well in the second half as they were able to score again in the 61st-minute. Allison Collins moved the ball down the left side of the field and found Josie Morgan who scored from distance for her first goal of the season to double her team's lead. The Chippewas would score in the 78th-minute, but Kent State's defense would hang tough for the remaining 11 to come away with the win in the regular-season finale.
Both teams were able to fire-off a lot of shots in the contest as KSU narrowly outshot CMU by a count of 20-18, while both teams were even in shots-on-goal with 10 a piece. Kent State also narrowly led in the corner kicks category by a tally of 9-7. Senior goalkeeper Leah Shaffer once again had a great day in net as she was able to produce nine saves on 18 shots faced, allowing just one goal.
Scouting Ball State
The Cardinals come into the playoff matchup with an overall 7-6-5 record and 4-3-4 in the MAC. In the final four games of the regular season, Ball State closed out with 1-0 wins over Toledo and Central Michigan.They also forced a draw against Ohio and lost to Buffalo in the regular-season finale.Â
Leading Ball State on the offensive end will be Kaelyn Valleau who has produced nine points off of three goals and three assists this season. Anna Kate Robillard has also scored three goals for the Cardinals this season, and that was enough to land her on the MAC All-Freshman team.Â
Half of the team's 14 assists this year have come from the duo of Lg Moncrief(4) and Annika Klauss(3), while each has also scored a goal in 2026. Mary Jane Keller is the other multi-goal goal-scorer for Ball State with two goals to go along with one assist.
In net for the Cardinals will be Kate Pallante, who has played all 1,620 minutes as the goalkeeper for her team this season. On 193 shots faced, she has been able to produce 64 saves, while allowing just 16 goals with a save percentage of .800. Throughout the season, Pallante produced eight shutouts which was second in the conference, landing her on the All-MAC second team.
Series History
Saturday's game will be the 32nd all-time meeting between the Cardinals and the Golden Flashes. The Cardinals currently lead the series by a count of 14-13-4, while the two squads have ended in a scoreless draw in their last two meetings, including earlier this season on October 15th. In last year's scoreless draw, the Cardinals were able to advance over the Flashes to the conference semifinals, winning 5-4 in penalty kicks after regulation and overtime.
The Bracket
The winner of Kent State and Ball State will return to ScottMiracle-Gro Field on Tuesday afternoon to take on the second-seeded University of Massachusetts Minutewomen for a 1 P.M. start. On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Miami takes on No. 5 Bowling Green where they will face No. 1 Western Michigan.
Follow Kent State Soccer
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