KENT, Ohio – The Miami soccer team took defending Mid-American Conference regular season champion Kent State into a scoreless tie through halftime, but the Golden Flashes scored four times in the second half to prevail 4-1 on Sunday.

Both teams felt each other out in the opening moments with the first 10 minutes seeing just one shot and one corner apiece. The Golden Flashes (6-5-1, 2-2 MAC) had the ball in the attacking third for large portions of the half and were content to fire away at all distances, outshooting the RedHawks (2-8-1, 0-4 MAC) 14-2.

After stopping the first three shots that came her way, an injury forced Patricia Koutoulas from the goal and led to Lauren Parker making her collegiate debut with 10 minutes and change remaining until the half. Parker responded by stopping all three shots that came her way as the teams remained scoreless at the break.

The Golden Flashes broke through right away in the second half as Vital Kats scored on a 2-on-1 just 1:20 into the half. Maddie Holmes made it 2-0 in the 55th minute and scored again 11 minutes later to make it a 3-0 contest. Kats then got her second of the day in the 73rd minute to stake KSU to a 4-0 lead. Miami got a goal 58 seconds later as Soph Spinell netted the first of her career on assists from Tyler Klika and Kristina DeMarco.

Kent State outshot Miami 27-4 and had a 6-5 edge in corner kicks. Parker finished the contest with seven saves after Koutoulas made three stops in the first 34 minutes of play.

Miami is back in action on Thursday when it travels to Western Michigan. Opening kick is at 4 p.m.