KENT, Ohio – While the first 94 minutes of Kent State’s contest against Bowling Green Sunday afternoon may not have been the most attractive soccer game, the final 10 seconds were beautiful for the Golden Flashes.

 

On a combination play on the right side, sophomore forward Jaclyn Dutton (Bridgeport, Ohio) tallied her first collegiate game-winning goal to give Kent State a 1-0 overtime victory over the Falcons.

 

The play started when senior Vanessa Salerno (Etobicoke, Ontario) tracked down a ball on the left side. Instead of crossing in, Salerno found freshman Stephanie Haugh (Richmond Hill, Ontario) cutting through at close range. Salerno fed the ball to Haugh, who then took the ball to the near post. With precise timing, Haugh fed the ball to the goal box, where Dutton buried the game’s lone score in the 95^th minute.

 

“Steph slotted me the perfect ball,” said Dutton. “That goal was great teamwork.”

 

Dutton’s score also halted a scoreless streak against the Falcons dating back seven games, a span where Kent State had gone 0-6-2 against Bowling Green.

 

Dutton seemed due to score after a few near-hits in the second half. In the 54^th minute Dutton was off the mark after getting behind the Bowling Green defense. Then, in the 57^th minute, Dutton blocked a clearance by a Falcons defender and won the footrace to the ball, but her toe-poke was just wide to the right.

 

In earning the fifth shutout of the season for Kent State, senior goalkeeper Kelly Sherwood (Strongsville, Ohio) made just three saves as the Golden Flashes’ defense denied dangerous looks. Of note, four of Kent State’s shutouts this season have been 1-0 victories.

 

Kent State (7-3-0, 1-1-0 MAC) out-shot Bowling Green 15-13; BGSU goalkeeper Laura Arnold finished with two saves in the loss to drop the Falcons to 4-7-0 overall and 1-1-0 in MAC play.

 

Kent State will travel next week in MAC play and will face Eastern Michigan Friday, Sept. 30 at 4 p.m.