The Mountaineers had another successful weekend, securing their first ever MAC regular season title since joining in 2017, with victories over the Ohio Bobcats Friday and Saint Louis Billikens Sunday.
In the first quarter of Friday’s game against the Bobcats, the Mountaineers got off to a quick start with a penalty corner goal scored by sophomore forward Bridget Donovon 38 seconds in to make it 1-0. Ten minutes later the Bobcats scored their first goal of the game evening the score 1-1.
Both teams came up empty in the second quarter, as the Black and Gold managed to put up two shots.
In the third quarter, the Mountaineers took a 2-1 lead off a goal scored by sophomore midfielder Lise Boekaar. The game stayed 2-1 going into the fourth quarter as graduate student goalkeeper Addie Clark saved five shots in the third and finished with seven saves.
In the fourth quarter, Ohio tied the game late, on a corner with just under four minutes to go. The final 90 seconds of the fourth proved to be utter chaos as graduate student forward Sarah Farrell fired a shot that was tipped in the cage by sophomore forward Hadley Kuzmicky, only for it to be waived off by the officials who came to the decision the ball was hit in off Kuzmicky’s foot.
Going into overtime App State was on a mission, and just two minutes in Kuzmicky scored the game winner to seal a 3-2 victory over the Bobcats.
“It was really exciting, it wouldn’t have been possible without the effort from the whole team,” Kuzmicky said. “We are going to use this win to push ourselves further towards that MAC championship.”
Using the momentum from Friday’s game, the Mountaineers ended their weekend with a 4-0 shutout versus Saint Louis.
After a scoreless first quarter for both teams, in her first start of the season, graduate student forward Rachel Fleig drew first blood three minutes into the second quarter to make it 1-0. Later with two minutes left in the same quarter, Boekaar added her second goal in two games to make it 2-0.
The third quarter ended in the same result as the first with both teams failing to score, keeping it at 2-0.
The fourth quarter saw junior forward Charlotte Bosma and Fleig score two goals of their own to make it 4-0. Fleig’s second goal of the game marked her first multi-goal game of the season, and first multi-goal game since scoring twice against Ohio in 2019.
The game ended in a 4-0 victory in favor of the Mountaineers as they outshot the Billikens, 24-5. This win tied the program record for wins in a season at 14, which has only been reached two times before. It also marked the Black and Gold’s fifth shutout of the season.
Head coach Emily Dinsmore passed Mountaineer legend Jan Watson’s record for wins by an App State first-year head coach with 13 in the win against Ohio.
The Mountaineers are currently on a nine game winning streak, and look to use the momentum from this year’s magical regular season to potentially win the MAC tournament.
“To go on this stretch is really encouraging and gives us a lot of momentum going into the tournament,” Dinsmore said. “We’re ready and excited for Friday and we’re ready to go out there and put our best foot forward against Kent State.”
The MAC tournament starts Friday at 2 p.m., where the Mountaineers face the Kent State Golden Eagles in the semifinals.
