Golden Flashes fall to Miami 2-1  

MUNCIE, Ind. — Kent State suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to Miami in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament earlier today in Muncie, Ind.  Amanda Seeley’s game winning goal in the 74th minute proved to be the difference maker as the Golden Flashes fell to 12-8 on the year. 

After an aggressive first half where Kent State held a 7-3 advantage in shots taken, sophomore Debbie Bell’s (Hamilton, New Zealand / Waikato) finally broke a scoreless tie in the 41st minute.  The nation’s most prolific scorer scored off an assist from senior Laurie Wilkins (Toledo, Ohio / Ottawa Hills) on a fast break to give the Golden Flashes a 1-0 advantage.  Bell leads the NCAA with 29 goals scored this season. 

Miami (13-9) answered just four minutes later when Rachel Walz flipped one in on a scramble in front of the goal, tying the game at 1-1.  The RedHawks would keep the pressure on the KSU defense throughout the rest of regulation attempting eight more shots, including four that were saved by Kent State junior goalie Caroline Suitch (Mountain Top, Pa. / Crestwood).  Suitch recorded two of the saves in the final 20 seconds to help force the extra session.  She would end the game with six stops. 

In overtime, Bell had a shot attempt in the first minute, but it sailed wide.  On the other end of the field, Miami also had an attempted sail wide before Seeley produced the game winner. 

The RedHawks held a 14-11 edge in shots taken for the game, while penalty corner attempts were even at 5-5. 

This was the first MAC Tournament overtime game for Kent State since a 3-2 win over Central Michigan in 2002. 

Juniors Rachel Miller (Bathurst, Australia / MacKillop) and Nicole Leach (San Diego, Calif. / Mira Mesa) were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.