The Youngstown State women's lacrosse team led for the majority of the contest but went scoreless in the fourth quarter as Kent State made a successful comeback attempt to defeat the Penguins, 18-16, at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio on Saturday afternoon.
The Penguins fall to 6-11 overall and 4-4 in Mid-American Conference play while the Golden Flashes improve to 10-7 on the season and 7-1 in the MAC, earning a share of the MAC regular season title.
Ali Korin led the Penguins with five goals on the day to record her sixth hat trick in the Penguins' last eight games. Korin also led all players with four ground balls in the contest.
Jordan Miller scored four goals for the second game in a row to mark her fourth hat trick this season. Miller and Korin each added an assist to their impressive performances.
Erin Clark delivered a four-point performance with two goals and two assists. Ally Garrett also scored two goals in the contest while Tristen Chang, Abby Yesko, and Aryss Lindsey each scored a goal a-piece.
Lindsey's goal marked her first of the season after the defender caused a turnover and turned it into a scoring possession. She caused two turnovers and grabbed two ground balls on the day.
Yesko led all players with a career-high 10 draw controls while Chang added eight as the Penguins won the draw control margin 19-18.
Mikaela Staranko and Jacqueline Cornell split time in the cage with Cornell recording the majority of minutes with just over 32. Cornell made five saves while giving up 10 goals for a .500 save percentage.
Leading Kent State's scoring effort was Jackie Wolford with seven goals and Kenzie Sklar with six goals and an assist.
The Penguins opened the contest with back-to-back goals as Clark and Korin scored their firsts of the day to give YSU an early 2-0 lead at the 12:21 mark of the first quarter.
Kent State scored their first goal at the 9:46 mark but Chang delivered a quick answer when she found the back of the net just 15 seconds later, YSU leading 3-1.
After the Flashes' made the score 3-2, Lindsey scored her first goal of the season off a breakaway caused turnover at the 1:09 mark before Garrett scored her first of the day to open the second quarter and give the Guins a three-point lead, 5-2.
Following a Kent State goal, Miller and Korin each found the back of the net in less than 30 seconds to give YSU its largest lead of the game, 7-3, at the 9:53 mark of the second quarter.
The Flashes went on to score five of the next six goals to tie the game 8-8 with 2:37 remaining in the first half; however, Korin scored a buzzer-beater to record a hat trick and give the Penguins a 9-8 lead headed into halftime.
YSU opened the second half with another strong start scoring three of the first four goals of the third quarter. The first came from Clark before Miller and Korin found the back of the net less than 15 seconds apart, making the score 12-9 at the 10:34 mark of the third quarter.
The Penguins and Flashes would each exchange two goals, YSU's coming from Yesko and Korin, as Youngstown State kept a three-point lead, 14-11, with 5:06 remaining in the third.
Kent State's Sklar and YSU's Miller would exchange goals before the Golden Flashes proceeded to score the last six of seven goals to earn an 18-16 victory, holding the Penguins scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Youngstown State will face Robert Morris in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals on Thursday, May 4 at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa. First draw is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m.
