Syracuse women’s soccer falls to Kent State in extra time
SU women's soccer loses to Kent State
Isabelle Mihail scored twice for Kent State, including the game winning in the second extra period, as the Golden Flashes beat the Orange, 2-1, in a women’s soccer clash on Thursday. It was the first ever matchup on the soccer pitch between the two programs.
Syracuse has now lost three straight games and four of its last five.
Despite holding the lead for the majority of the game, Syracuse (3-5) wasn’t able to stop an attacking Kent State team (4-3-1).
“We knew that Kent was going to be a direct team,” Syracuse head coach Phil Wheddon said. “We knew that they were going to play balls forward and try get behind us … and they did.”
It was SU that got on the board first in the 41st minute. Sophomore midfielder/forward Kate Hostage put a shot past the keeper to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead. A Laurel Ness assist set up Hostage on a pass that went straight past the Kent State defender. The goal was Hostage’s team-leading fourth goal of the season.
The Orange took that lead into halftime and held it for most of the second half. However, in the 80th minute, Kent State forward Isabelle Mihail scored a goal to tie the game at one. A Syracuse defender passed back to goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx, who was retreating back towards her net. Mihail intercepted the pass, and the miscommunication led to a wide-open shot for Mihail.
Her equalizer would force the game into extra time, but Mihail was not done there.
After a scoreless first extra period, Mihail fired a shot over Proulx in the 104th minute, deflecting down off the crossbar and into the net. It was Syracuse’s first game of the season that needed extra time.
The Orange had just completed a four-game road trip prior to Thursday’s contest at SU Stadium, marking their first time playing at home in two weeks. The match up was each team’s last tune up before conference play begins.
The game was physical from start to finish. Four minutes into the game, Kent State defender Sierra Henderson-Muschett was issued a yellow card after a collision with Syracuse defender Jenna Tivnan. Tivan was injured and had to leave the game.
The physicality continued. Ten minutes later, Yasmine Hall of Kent State was carted off the field with an injury after she was hurt while trying to make a play on the ball.
Even though Hostage found the back of the net, she wanted the win more than the personal accolade.
“We just have to work on playing together,” Hostage said” “We were [Kent State’s] best player. We gave the ball away a lot of times. Big respect to them. They put the ball in the back of the net more times than we did, but next time we have to work on playing our game and keeping the ball.”
Despite the loss, Hostage still believes in her teammates.
“I personally trust our defense 100 percent,” Hostage said. “They’re going to do their job and we have to do our job. In the end, we didn’t put in enough goals either. So, we win as a team, we lose as a team.”
Syracuse opens up conference play on Sunday, Sept. 16 with a match against #13 Duke at the SU Soccer Stadium. The match begins at 1 o’clock.
is an aspiring sports broadcast journalist with college sports reporting experience at Syracuse University and Wilmington College.
