Kent State University
Oakland
Kent State Soccer To Host Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Thursday
9/2/2026 1:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Kent, OHIO- The Kent State Soccer team will return home on Thursday evening as they start a two-game home stand this week to round out the home non-conference schedule of the 2026 season. The Oakland Grizzlies will come to town for a 6 P.M. kick at Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium for Military Appreciation Day.
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes Soccer team fell on the road to the Duquesne Dukes of the Atlantic 10 in Pittsburgh on a hot day on Sunday by a score of 1-0.
The Dukes got on the board early as Kaitlyn Killinger scored down the left side of the field putting the ball in the upper-portion of the net in the 6th-minute to put the home team up early.
The Flashes then showed disciplined defense the rest of the way as they held the Dukes scoreless for the remaining 84 minutes. KSU also had multiple great scoring chances on the offensive end, but just could not quite find the back of the net.
In fact, the blue and gold dominated in the shots category as they outshot the Dukes by a count of 16-6. Nine of those shots came in the second half. They also had nine shots on goal compared to three from Duquesne. Duquesne, however, led the corner kicks department by a tally of 8-3.
Junior Emma Klein and senior Leah Shaffer split time in net for the Flashes with 45 minutes each. Klein allowed one goal with no saves in the first half while Shaffer contributed two saves in the second half.
Scouting Oakland
The Golden Grizzlies have started the 2026 campaign with a 1-3 record after winning their first game against Mercyhurst 3-0, and dropping their last three games all to Mid-American Conference opponents in Akron, Bowling Green, and Toledo.Â
Oakland returns three of their tour four leading scorers from a year ago in Mallory Anderson, Isabella Bireod and Brae Cole. Goal scorers for the Golden Grizzlies so far this season are Bailey Giddings and Ava Ruffino, while Adalyn Cameron has contributed an assist.
Norah Schmidt has played every minute for Oakland University in goal so far as she has accumulated 17 saves on 54 faced shots. while allowing five goals and securing one shutout.
Series History
Thursday will mark the eighth-time the two teams have met in non-conference lead with Kent State currently leading the series with a record of 4-1-2. Last year, the game ended in a 1-1 draw in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Two years ago, the Golden Flashes defeated the Golden Grizzlies by a score of 4-0 in Kent.
Up Next
The Flashes will stay put in Kent as they welcome Cornell of the Ivy League to Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium for a rematch of last year's 1-1 draw in Ithaca, NY. First kick is set for 1 P.M. on Sunday as the Kent State Soccer team will honor their seniors for Senior Day prior to the game.
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