The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Kent State
Women's Soccer Shut Out at Kent State, 3-0
September 28 | Women's Soccer
KENT, Ohio - Despite a scoreless first half at Zoeller Field on Sunday, the University of Akron women's soccer team fell 3-0 at Kent State as the Golden Flashes scored three second half goals to secure the win.
The Zips had a big chance early, as senior Sydney Blomquist fed a pass to senior Lani Smith in the middle of the field that ran just long to the Golden Flashes goalkeeper, Stephanie Senn.
Kent State maintained a high level of possession for a bulk of the first half, as the Golden Flashes took eight shots, three on goal, in the first 35 minutes of the game.
A critical moment in the 35th minute, Karli Paracca took a shot on goal for Kent State that landed in the back of the net past Akron goalkeeper junior Klaire Adee, but the call was overturned as it was ruled that Paracca was offsides.
Sophomore Abby Gindlesberger and junior Holly Ohradzansky each made key stops for the Zips (4-5-1, 0-2-0 MAC) in the final five minutes of the first half, as Gindlesberger booted a ball out of the box on a Golden Flashes set piece from the left side in the 40th minute while Ohradzansky headed a ball beyond the reach of a Kent State forward just moments later that would keep the game scoreless headed into halftime.
With three corner kicks in the first 13 minutes of the second half, the Golden Flashes pushed the ball in their offensive zone, including a shot in the middle of the box by Doni Capehart that was saved by Adee right in front of her.
Kent State (6-3-1, 1-1-0 MAC) would capitalize on a drive in the 60th minute, as Capehart found teammate Kristen Brots in the box beyond her defender as the Golden Flashes put their first goal of the game on the board.
Capehart found the back of the net again in the 76th minute, as she tracked a loose ball in the box off of a corner kick by teammate Alyssa Meier and shot it to give the Kent State a 2-0 lead.
The Golden Flashes would go on to score one more in the 80th when Madison Helterbran nailed a shot from the right side to give Kent State their third and final goal.
"It's always an incredible rivalry between Akron and Kent," head coach Vernon Croft noted after the game. "It's frustrating to continually be on the losing end of it. But at the same time, you can't fault the kids for anything. They battled extremely hard, and I just told them, I'm incredibly proud to be their coach because they never quit. Easiest thing to do at any given moment when you get down like that is to quit, and they never did, so I'm very proud of our players."
Adee played in 81 minutes in the contest, making eight saves, before being replaced by senior Alex Luevano-Harden for the final nine minutes.
The Zips were outshot 26-1 in the match and only took one corner kick compared to nine for the Golden Flashes.
"It's an introduction to MAC play," Croft added. "We've dug ourselves a hole, and we're going to start chasing come Tuesday. When a win comes, it will be a good start for us to try and position ourselves for any opportunity at the MAC Tournament. The good thing about that MAC is that it's such a big conference. You lose the first two games and there's still nine games left to get some points. We're looking forward to getting to training and getting those points."
Akron returns to action at home this Friday, as they play a stretch of four games at home on back-to-back weekends including matches against Eastern Michigan (Oct. 3), Bowling Green (Oct. 5), Western Michigan (Oct. 10), and Northern Illinois (Oct. 12).
