KENT, Ohio – A hat trick from Kent State forward Caroline Corthouts and a six-save day from goalkeeper Andrea Rinehart sent reigning MAC champion Kent State to a 5-1 win over visiting Longwood Sunday afternoon at Murphy-Mellis Field.
 
Corthouts' three goals came in just 36 minutes of action as part of a high-volume shooting effort from the Golden Flash (2-6, 1-0 MAC), who put 13 of their 25 shots on goal. The top pick in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Kent State shut out the Lancers for the first 65-plus minutes of the game before Longwood senior Meghan O'Connor derailed the shutout with her first goal of the season minutes before the final whistle.
 
The loss is Longwood's first on the road this season and snaps a two-game winning streak that included a 5-2 win over Central Michigan Friday and a 2-1 overtime win at Davidson last Sunday.
 
"Having had three good games in a row where we've competed and played well, this one was a disappointment," said Longwood head coach Iain Byers. "Unfortunately, we couldn't make the connections required to get the ball into good attacking spaces. Our ball movement wasn't up to par, and we gave up too many opportunities to the opposition. Kent State played well, and they're a good team, but we certainly didn't give a good showing of ourselves. We're disappointed as a group about that."
 
The Lancers (3-5, 1-2 MAC) entered the game winners of three of their past four, but Kent State attacked the net early and often on the way to a 2-0 lead at halftime after goals from Corthouts and Madison Thompson. That lead ballooned to 5-0 by the 50th minute when Corthouts scored twice more after halftime to bookend another score from Krysti Lober.
 
The five goals came at the expense of Longwood goalkeeper Lauren Bernard, who had allowed just 1.60 goals per game in the three games leading into Sunday. Bernard matched a season-high eight saves, but could do little to slow down a Kent State team that for the fourth time this season put double-digit shots on goal.
 
The loss marks the first time in the past five games the Lancers have allowed more than two goals and drops Longwood to fourth place in the MAC standings. Longwood's two conference losses have come against the league's two preseason favorites, including a 2-1 loss to Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 18. Longwood will continue MAC play this Friday, Oct. 2, at home against conference foe Ball State.
 
"We have a good opportunity to bounce back this week," Byers said. "We need to perform well in this run of MAC games, and if we can come out 2-2 at the end of the first four games, we're still in a good position to make the tournament."
 
The Lancers tip off against the Cardinals at 5 p.m. on the Big South Network.

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