Friday’s Field Hockey Results
Ball State 4, Ohio 3 (OT)
Bellarmine 2, Central Michigan 1
James Madison 2, App State 1
No. 4 UMass 10, Longwood 0
No. 11 Miami 5, Kent State 0
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 4, Ohio 3 (OT)
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. — Gigi Ranoldo delivered the game-winner in sudden-death overtime to lift the Ball State field hockey team to a thrilling 4-3 victory over Mid-American Conference rival Ohio University Friday afternoon at the Briner Sports Complex.
Ranoldo's game-winner capped off a brilliant multi-player sequence, with precision assists credited to Jade Vandevoorde and Lauren Lewis. The cohesive play sliced through the Bobcats' defense to seal the victory on the Cardinals' home turf.
With the win, the Cardinals move to 4-11 and 2-6 in the MAC while Bobcats drop to 7-7 and 4-4 in conference action.
The match began with an early setback for the Cardinals, as Ohio scored shortly after the opening whistle to take a quick 1-0 lead. However, Ball State quickly regained its composure, equalizing at the 12:11 mark when Pratt, a true freshman, finished a spectacular solo dribble. The remainder of the first half devolved into a defensive battle. The Cardinals stifled the Bobcats' attack, limiting Ohio to just one penalty corner while drawing six of their own, including back-to-back corners to close out the opening 30 minutes.
Ball State carried that momentum into the second half, dominating both ends of the field. Emily Kate Covert gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead at the 38:41 mark, turning an aggressive solo drive into an unassisted goal. The offense kept pressing, expanding the lead to 3-1 when Jade Vandevoorde capitalized on a penalty corner, assisted by Emalee Harter and Lauren Lewis. Lewis was equally stellar on the defensive end, helping the Cardinals maintain their two-goal cushion heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Despite Ball State's control, this high-stakes conference clash came down to the wire. Ohio's Karley DuCoin mounted a fierce comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring two unanswered goals to erase the deficit and knot the score at 3-3, sending the game into a tense overtime period.
The Ball State field hockey team will host Queens on Sunday for its last home contest of the season at noon. Prior to the game, the Cardinals will pay tribute to their seniors.
Bellarmine 2, Central Michigan 1
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Bellarmine University field hockey team picked up its third win of the season over Central Michigan by a score of 2-1 Friday afternoon at Cristy Freese Field.
The first half saw little to no action with both teams unable to put a point on the board. In the half, Central Michigan held a 7-5 advantage in shots while Bellarmine had the edge in saves 4-3.
Central Michigan (4-13, 2-6 MAC) struck first in four minutes into the third quarter, but the Knights later tied it in the period with Eve Gladys' first goal of her collegiate career.
Even at 1-1 heading into the final period of regulation, Lune Tuncay scored the go-ahead goal off an assist from Brooke Buchanan to give Bellarmine (3-12, 3-5 MAC) a 2-1 victory.
Bellarmine will play its final road game of the season on Sunday, October 25 against Michigan State. The game is slated to start at noon and will be broadcast on BIG+.
James Madison 2, App State 1
Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va. – A fourth quarter game-winner from Emma Smit helped push James Madison field hockey (8-6, 7-1 MAC) to a 2-1 victory over App State Friday at the JMU Field Hockey Complex.
Smith and Azul Covarrubias were a dynamic duo offensively, both notching three points with a goal and an assist in the game. JMU's first score saw Covarrubias put in a beautiful goal off a penalty corner with an assist from Smit coming from a behind-the-back pass. Later in the fourth, Smit tapped in the game-winning goal for the Dukes with the assist going to Covarrubias, giving JMU the 2-1 lead.
Ava Drexler-Amey, Ella Dunstan, and Avery Ruckman also took shots, leading to a total of six overall shots for the Dukes. Additionally, the Dukes' defense was a key aspect of their success as they were able to hold off App State for the last fourteen minutes to solidify their win. JMU held App State to just one shot on goal and five total shots for the afternoon.
How It Happened
- Off a Dukes penalty corner in the second quarter, Smit passed the ball behind her back to Covarrubias, who then buried it in the back goal, scoring the first goal of the game and putting the Dukes into motion.
- Right before halftime, the Mountaineers tied the score when Sophia Baxter assisted a Kassie Paul goal from about 10 feet out.
- Going into the second half, 1-1, the Dukes were able to fend off two App State corners in a back-and-forth third quarter.
- Early in the fourth quarter, Covarrubias hit a strong drive into the circle, which Smit tapped in, propelling the Dukes into the lead and ultimately winning them the game, 2-1.
Game Notes
- With this win, the Dukes extended their winning streak to seven games, a streak they've maintained since Sept. 27th. Four of those wins have been by multiple scores, while the Dukes have outscored their opponents 26-7 in that span.
- JMU's conference record is now 7-1 as the Dukes remain in a tie with Miami for second place with 21 points.
- JMU increases their lead in the all-time series, now making their record 21-5-1 against the Mountaineers. This win also breaks a four-loss streak to App State, with the Dukes last win coming in 2018.
- As Smit made the first game-winning goal of her career, Covarrubias achieves her 16th career assist.
Up Next
James Madison will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face off against No. 10 Wake Forest on Sunday at 12 p.m.
No. 4 UMass 10, Longwood 0
Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 UMass field hockey team erased any doubt with seven first-half goals, on the way to beating Longwood 10-0 on Friday afternoon. Both Niamh McKenzie and Amber Fairon tallied hat tricks, scoring four and three goals, respectively, while the Minutewomen outshot the Lancers 48-0 for the game.
With the win, UMass improves to 16-1 and 8-0 in the MAC. The 16 regular season wins mark the Minutewomen's most since 2013, when they also had 16.
Emily Barrett, Lina Kroeger and Kristy Leonard also scored goals for UMass. For McKenzie, it marked her second straight hat trick to reach a team-leading 18 goals on the season. The four goals tied for the second most in program history, also accomplished by Fairon in the second game of 2026 at Maine.
As a team, the Minutewomen are up to 87 points and 256 points on the season, breaking the previous records of 81 and 234, respectively.
McKenzie got the scoring started at the 2:03 mark, carrying to the top of the circle and firing a shot past Longwood goalkeeper Sophie Mooldijk, who finished the afternoon with 22 saves.
Just over four minutes later, Kroeger played an aerial into the circle, which found the stick of Barrett, who converted her 14th goal of the season. Less than three minutes later, Fairon scored her first of the day, assisted by Fiene Jenniskens, for a 3-0 lead.
UMass added four more in the second quarter, beginning with an impressive sequence in the midfield that led to a series of passes and McKenzie's second of the afternoon at 17:10.
Fairon followed with her second at 18:49, from Elani Sherwood, before McKenzie scored at the 21:15 and 28:43 marks to give her four and give the Minutewomen a 7-0 halftime lead.
Fairon added her third of the day just 1:40 into the third quarter, from Cara Falconer. Kroeger then made it a perfect 5-for-5 on penalty strokes, before Leonard turned a turnover into UMass' 10th of the afternoon. Leonard fired a high shot from a tough angle past Mooldijk at 40:29. She finished the day with one goal and two assists.
UMass continued to pressure in the fourth, holding an 11-0 edge in shots, with four of them saved by Mooldijk to prevent any more scoring.
Final shots were 48-0 in favor of UMass, with the Minutewomen holding an 11-0 edge in penalty corners.
UMass now returns home for its regular season finale next Friday to host JMU at 2 p.m. on Senior Day.
No. 11 Miami 5, Kent State 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The No. 11 RedHawks defeated Kent State at home Friday 5-0 after scoring in all four quarters. Malena Sabez had two goals during the contest, her third multi-goal game of the year. Miami improves to 11-4 (7-1 MAC) with the win while Kent State falls to 4-13 (3-5 MAC).
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After a scoreless 14 minutes to open play, The RedHawks earned a penalty corner. Kylie Coughlin and Judit Garcia Gregori set up Sabez, who buried the ball in the back of the net to give the RedHawks a 1-0 advantage.
- Sabez's second goal came midway through the second quarter on another penalty corner, this time with assists from Coughlin and Toto Scarlatti.
- Freshman Mireia Gifra earned her first collegiate goal late in the third quarter on an assist by Justina Intzes to make the score 3-0.
- With less than three minutes to play in the fourth, defender Lucia Ventos took it herself for an unassisted goal, her third score of the season.
- Under a minute later, Scarlatti scored unassisted to put an exclamation point on a 5-0 victory for the RedHawks.
MIAMI GAME NOTES:
UP NEXT: Miami will take on Michigan in a non-conference matchup this Sunday at home at 1 p.m.
