Strong Play at All Three Levels Drives Crucial Lacrosse Victory

Saturday, April 18

Kent, Ohio

12:30 PM

Central Michigan University

4-11, 3-3

Kent State

7-9, 2-4

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Central Mich.	5	3	4	3	15
Kent State	5	1	1	2	9

Leila Kahler at Youngstown State (April 11, 2026)

Photo by: Robert Hayes, YSU Athletics

Strong Play at All Three Levels Drives Crucial Lacrosse Victory

4/18/2026 3:57:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score

Regitz sports 14 draw controls, Farrar tallies five goals, Kahler collects 14 saves; Chippewas defeat Kent State, gain ground in MAC tournament race

By: Harrison LaLone

KENT, Ohio – Career highlight performances from end to end at Dix Stadium Saturday afternoon as Central Michigan Lacrosse thumped Kent State, 15-9, in a battle for the fourth and final spot with one game left before Mid-American Conference tournament.

The Chippewas will host second-place Akron next Saturday (April 25; Noon ET) for the regular season finale—a win-and-in tournament berth scenario.

Central Michigan entered the day in a four-way tie for fourth place with Kent State, Robert Morris and Youngstown State. Saturday's results fell in favor of the Chippewas, now in sole possession of the last tournament spot.

Ava Regitz (Marietta, Ga. / Blessed Trinity) set the tone with a career-high 14 draw controls (fourth in program history), just one week after tying the program record with six caused turnovers at Youngstown State.

Anna Farrar (Milton, Ga. / Cambridge) collected her fifth hat trick of the season in the first five-plus minutes of the contest. She scored twice in the second half to add insurance at the midway points of both quarters and secure a career-high five goals.

Leila Kahler (Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake) replicated her career-best performance from her first career start last season, also against Kent State, with 14 saves (.609 save percentage).

Regitz's performance led to a 20-6 advantage at midfield, the largest margin for the Chippewas since Jozy Allen '25 collected the program's record (16) at Robert Morris last season.

Farrar's five-goal output is the most by a CMU player since Skye DePrado '25 opened the 2024 campaign with six at Butler.

After the 5-5 first quarter tally, Kahler posted 13 saves to just four goals allowed (.765 save percentage) to clinch her second consecutive game with a .600-plus save rate and her fourth time in six league games over the .500 mark.

Caye Kalbacher (Austin, Texas / Stephen F. Austin) and Mia Bradley (Orchard Park, N.Y. / Orchard Park) each added a hat trick to CMU's highest scoring contest since April 14, 2024 at Eastern Michigan (W, 16-7).

Kelsey Barratt (Voorhees, N.J. / Eastern) and Julia Werner (Gurnee, Ill. / Warren Township) became the fourth and fifth player of the season to eclipse the 20-point mark.

Saturday marked Kalbacher's third hat trick of the season, Bradley's second. Bradley's five-point performance made the rookie the first Chippewa to eclipse 30 points in 2026 with 31. Kalbacher and Farrar remain on her heels with 28 apiece.

Werner tallied a career-high three assists along with a goal of her own late in the fourth quarter; Barratt assisted Kalbacher on CMU's first goal, scored once herself to have a strong hand in two of the team's five goals in the first quarter, added a second assist on Lili Sorenson's (Kildeer, Ill. / Stevenson) score in the third quarter.

Barratt, Kahler and Victoria Chesson (Cincinnati, Ohio / Wyoming) will be recognized in senior day festivities pregame next Saturday against the Zips.

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