No. 15 Northwestern Pulls Away From Kent State, 4-1

9/18/2016 12:28:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Nick Brilowski

KENT, Ohio – No. 15 Northwestern used a strong second half performance to pull away from host Kent State for a 4-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Murphy-Mellis Field.

Eva van Agt led the 'Cats with two goals and an assist as NU scored three times after the intermission. In goal, Lindsay von der Luft made five of her six saves in the first half to help stem Kent State's strong opening push.

"We had to fight hard today against a very good team," Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs said. "Lindsay and the corner defense played really well and we capitalized on our opportunities. We're looking forward to getting back to Lakeside Field for two tough battles next weekend."

The Wildcats (6-2) got on the board first at the 6:26 mark when van Agt dribbled in and beat Andrea Rinehart to put the visitors in front 1-0.

The remainder of the half was a battle, though, as the Golden Flashes posted advantages in shots and penalty corners.

NU was able to maintain the one-goal advantage until the last minute of the first half when Kent State capitalized on a penalty corner as Shannon Talbot scored with only 20 seconds remaining before the intermission.

Kent State posted advantages of 11-4 in shots and 6-3 in penalty corners over the opening 35 minutes of play. Lindsay von der Luft came up with five saves in goal for the Wildcats.

Northwestern came out the aggressors to open the second stanza, earning a pair of corners in the first two minutes of the period. The second one paid off as Dominique Masters tallied her sixth goal of the year at 36:49 off assists from Kirsten Mansfield and van Agt.

The Wildcats added a much-needed insurance goal 10 minutes later when van Agt continued her big day by tallying her second goal of the match, a gorgeous diving deflection off a feed from Sophia Miller that increased Northwestern's lead to 3-1.

The advantage grew to 4-1 at 52:36 when Mansfield scored on a rebound after an initial penalty corner shot by Isabel Flens was saved by Rinehart.

Northwestern returns to action at 3 p.m. Friday when it hosts Penn State in a key Big Ten tilt at Lakeside Field.

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