Sept. 23, 2011

Box Score

Springfield, Mo. -

The field hockey Bears (3-5) fell to the Golden Flashes (3-6) in their conference opener. Despite strong efforts, Missouri State lost 5-3 to Mid-American Conference powerhouse Kent State.

Kent State opened the game firing the first goal in with a high lob into the back of the net from Alyssa McFerren. The Bears would answer back shortly after as Hillary Lawless showed her stellar speed and took off on a breakaway, scoring MSU's first goal of the match. "We came out strong in the first half, distributing the ball well", said coach Gomez Sosa. The Golden Flashes would find the back of the net two more times in the first half, holding the lead at 3-1 for the half.

Kent State would score the first two shots of the second half, catching the Bears' defense off guard. MSU would come to life in the middle of the half with Sarah Bradley scoring off a penalty stroke, her sixth goal of the season. "Our forward line was pretty good. They did a great job of getting there", said coach Gomez Sosa," You can always count on Bayliss, Bradley and Lawless to show up and get good opportunies, we just need to finish them." Reiann Stoute would also rise to the occasion for the Bears, scoring the Bears' last goal of the match off a deflection from a shot from Hillary Lawless. This was Stoute's first goal of the season.

Both teams would fail to score in the remaining twenty-minutes of play, bringing the final score to 5-3 Kent State. Bears' goalkeeper Andrea Bain had four saves for the match.

The Bears will continue their home stay with another conference match, taking on Ohio on Sunday, Sept. 25. Game time is slated for 11:00 a.m. CT. The match will be Military Appreciation Day, as the Bears will host special events honoring past and present military service members.