KENT, OH - The Rockets suffered a 3-0 defeat at Kent State on Friday evening. Toledo falls to 3-6-0 in the Mid-American Conference and 6-10-1 overall with just two regular season games remaining this fall.
"Tough day today," UT head coach Brad Evans. "Congratulations to Kent on job well done. We made two really critical errors that affected the outcome of the game and wasted some decent performances by Rio and Sophie. We have to get better at recognizing the mistake in the moment but then being able to overcome it so it doesn't necessarily result in a goal. As the head coach, I'm responsible for recruiting the players on this team and teaching the mental skills and tactics that make a team successful and I obviously need to do a better job in all phases."
The Golden Flashes registered 14 shots, including 10 blasts on goal, compared to Toledo's eight. UT tallied three corner kicks but could manage just one shot on goal. Junior midfielder Geri Siudzinski and freshman Bethany Thomas led the Rockets with a pair of blasts.
The play was very physical as the teams combined for 30 fouls but neither team was booked.
The Golden Flashes jumped on the scoreboard in the 29th minute as sophomore Jenna Hellstrom added to her impressive resume with her sixth goal of the season.
Hellstrom received a pass from Karli Paracca on the right side of the box and the Ontario, Canada native fired a shot past UT keeper Sam Tiongson and inside the far post.
The Rockets nearly tied it up just three minutes later as Siudzinski found space in the KSU defense and ripped a shot but the blast ricocheted off of the Kent State defender and out of play.
The second half opened much like the first as the Golden Flashes struck early in the stanza.
Senior Stephanie Haugh snuck past the UT defense and received a perfectly played through ball from Kristen Brots. Haugh beat Tiongson one-on-one and lit the scoreboard for Kent State.
Looking to cut into the deficit, Kiersten Johnson turned on the jets and zoomed past the Golden Flashes defense and took a touch on a through ball. Johnson's shot was on target but a great stop the Kent State keeper kept the score at 2-0.
Just two minutes later the Golden Flashes scored their third goal as Haugh tallied her second goal of the game. The senior forward won a ball in a space and once again found herself one-on-one with the UT keeper.
Toledo's final quality chance came in the 84th minute as Medellin, Colombia native Isa Echeverri lined up a free kick from 25 yards out but once again the Kent State keeper was there for the save.
"They scored off our errors and then we were never able to bounce back," Evans said. "We created more opportunities in the second half but we weren't able to capitalize on them. We can learn from this and come together as a team in preparation for Sunday's game against Ohio."
The Rockets will look to break through on Sunday in Athens, OH as Toledo takes on Ohio at 1:00 p.m.
