Friday's MAC Field Hockey Results
Kent State 4, Ball State 1
Miami 10, Ohio 0
No. 5 UMass 5, App State 0
Central Michigan 7, Longwood 0
James Madison 4, Bellarmine 1
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Kent State 4, Ball State 1
Boxscore
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.
Miami 10, Ohio 0
Boxscore
No. 13 Miami delivered a dominant performance Friday afternoon, cruising to a 10-0 victory over Ohio in Oxford. Kylie Coughlin, Bet Gifra and Maxi Aguirregomezcorta each scored twice as the RedHawks improved to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in MAC play.
Miami wasted little time taking control, scoring twice in the opening quarter before adding two more goals in the second to build a 4-0 halftime advantage. The RedHawks broke the game open with four third-quarter goals and added two more in the fourth to complete the shutout.
Malena Sabez, Justina Intzes, Ella Clayton and Sloane Wearren also found the back of the cage, with Clayton recording the first goal of her collegiate career. Wearren contributed two assists to go along with her goal, while freshman AC Kosek registered her first collegiate point with an assist.
The 10-goal outburst marked an emphatic rivalry victory for Miami, which handed Ohio (6-5, 3-2 MAC) its second conference loss of the season.
No. 5 UMass 5, App State 0
Boxscore
AMHERST, Mass. – The fifth-ranked UMass field hockey team improved to 5-0 in the MAC on Friday with a convincing 5-0 win over App State at the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex. The Minutewomen scored two first-quarter goals, then three more in the span of 16:28 in the second half to erase any doubt. In total, five different UMass players scored goals, with eight different Minutewomen recording an assist.
With the win, Massachusetts improves to 12-1 and 5-0 in conference play. The Mountaineers fall to 6-6 and 2-3 in the MAC.
"We did well in our finishing today," said head coach Barb Weinberg. "We talked at each quarter break and halftime that our basic skills weren't super sharp today. We need to be much more clinical in our skill execution leading into Sunday [at Brown]."
Niamh McKenzie began the scoring at exactly five minutes in. She collected a rebound following a hard shot from Fiene Jenniskens, then maneuvered through traffic before beating App State goalkeeper Dakota Anderson high.
"We have a few grad students this year and that level of maturity, she's played a lot of international hocky and is really talented striker," said Weinberg. "Her hockey IQ is really high. For her to be able to lead the strike line, her presence and maturity on the field has really helped."
Neva Eisenga made it 2-0 at the 10:27 mark, firing a direct shot off a corner past Anderson, assisted by Cara Falconer and Megan Carpenter.
That score remained until late in the third quarter, when Isla Campbell put home a rebound to make it 3-0 at 41:44.
The fourth quarter saw two more goals. Falconer near the end line made a beautiful pass in front to Emily Barrett, who converted her ninth goal of the season at 50:41. Chiara Curcio added a goal off a corner at 58:12, to account for the 5-0 final.
Final shots were 24-3 in favor of UMass. All three App State shots came within seconds in a second-quarter sequence. Colleen Conlan, making her first-career start, stood tall to keep the Minutewomen ahead 2-0 at the time as she finished with the shutout. Anderson made five saves for App State.
The Minutewomen return to action on Sunday for a nonconference showdown at Brown. Gametime is set for 1 p.m.
Central Michigan 7, Longwood 0
Boxscore
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan Field Hockey rolled past Mid-American Conference opponent Longwood 7-0 Friday, Oct. 9. Sophomore Teah Savignano earned her first career hat trick to lead the Chippewas offense, followed closely by junior Carolena Ryon, who scored twice.
The Chippewas wasted no time to get on the attack, earning their first goal of the game on their second corner attempt. Senior Annabelle Cotroneo sent the ball across to sophomore Savignano, who stopped for Ryon to bury it from the edge of the circle to the keeper's right side in the fifth minute. It was Ryon's fifth goal of the season, the second most on the squad.
Ryon added her second goal of the game in the seventh minute of the second quarter, after collecting her own rebound and sneaking a shot in on the right side of the goal. The Chippewas carried the two-goal advantage to the half and led in corners 4-2 and shots on goal 9-1.
Savignano added a third Chippewa goal in the fourth minute of the third quarter, beating the lone defender in front of the Lancers' goal after Ryon moved the ball up the sideline. It was her second goal of the season.
The Chippewas added two more just four minutes later. Senior Hailey Bainer collected her second of the year on a corner attempt for goal number four, beating the keeper on the left side. Leading scorer, sophomore Mora Rulli, added her eighth goal of the season after tipping junior forward Violet Barton's shot.
Savignano went on to end the third quarter by converting twice just over a minute apart, completing the first hat trick of her career. Her second goal of the game came as she collected a loose ball down low after a misplayed Chippewa pass. She was then fed on the left side of the goal down low by Senior Cameron Pluciennik.
"You've got to celebrate the conference wins. We played very well connected today; it's what we call getting outcomes in the circle. When Teah plays confidently, you can really see her speed, and you can't really match that. We love seeing Teah being confident in the circle." Head Coach Kelly Terwilliger said.
"I thought Molly in the backfield controlled a lot of the pace of the game that allowed us to set the tone from the backfield up; it creates an advantage in the attack. She created a ton for us by letting us get numbers in the attack. She had the patience back there to work the ball around and play more possession play, and it showed."
Jenna Billig ended the day with three shots faced, with one on target for a save. It was her third shutout of the season.
The Chippewas finished the game with a 19-1 shots on goal advantage, and led in corners 10-2.
Central Michigan returns to action Sunday, Oct. 11 as they travel to Saint Louis to take on the Billikens for the second time this season. The Chippewas won the first game in Mount Pleasant 3-2.
James Madison 4, Bellarmine 1
Boxscore
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The result was never in doubt for James Madison field hockey (5-6, 4-1 MAC) Friday afternoon as the Dukes got out to an early multi-goal advantage and never looked back, winning 4-1 over Bellarmine (2-9, 2-3 MAC) from the JMU Field Hockey Complex.
Prior to today, JMU had only scored twice in the first half all season. The Dukes proceeded to double that total in the first frame against the Knights as Elena Giangaspero and Brynna Hill notched goals in the first quarter. JMU was able to put the game out of reach in the second half when a third goal came off the stick of Emma Smit.
James Madison stuffed the stat sheet offensively, registering 18 shots, 10 of which were on-goal attempts. The Dukes outclassed the Knights in penalty corners, holding an 8-1 edge. Defensively, JMU limited Bellarmine to just five shots as Lilly Sweeney pitched a first-half shutout while Hannah Popolis posted two saves in her first action of the season.
With the win, JMU remains tied at the top of the MAC standings, holding 12 points in conference play. The Dukes have won four consecutive games dating back to Sept. 27, three of which came come against MAC foes in Kent State, Longwood and Bellarmine
James Madison has the weekend off before getting back in action next Friday at Ohio with start time slated for 2 p.m.
