NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – A ten-goal first half set the tone for the Keene State College men's lacrosse team as the Owls went on to defeat UMass Dartmouth by a final score of 15-7 on the road Saturday afternoon. The win also snapped a six-game losing streak for the Owls.
The victory brought the Owls' record to 2-6, 1-0 in the Little East Conference. The Corsairs drop to 5-3, 0-1 in LEC play.
Sophomore Bo Prozinski paced the UMass Dartmouth offense with a hat trick, while junior Riley Baxter recorded a marker and two assists for three points.
The Owls utilized a quick start to open the contest with three consecutive goals. Ryan Hart sandwiched a pair of goals between a goal from freshman Bryan Rotatori to give KSC an early 3-0 advantage five minutes, 44 seconds into regulation.
The hosts finally got on the scoreboard with 8:05 remaining in the first quarter, but Keene State responded with a two straight scores. Justin Lawless closed out the first quarter with a goal for the Corsairs, his third goal of the campaign.
The visitors seized control of the contest in the second frame, outscoring the Corsairs by a 5-1 margin to build 10-3 advantage at the intermission. McKelvie and Reilly fueled the surge with two markers and an assist apiece.
UMass Dartmouth opened the second half with a pair of goals to trim its deficit to 10-5. Prozinski converted off a feed from Baxter, while Niden sent home a pass from sophomore Andrew Johnson. However, the Owls answered with five consecutive goals to dash any hopes of a Corsair comeback.
Senior keeper Nick Thayer stopped six attempts in 48 minutes, 24 seconds of action, while freshman Matt LaFond made five saves in relief for UMD.
Keene State held the advantage in shots (43-39), ground balls (34-29), and turnovers (22-20). The Owls special teams did not allow a man-down goal in six opportunities, while scoring once on three of their chances.
The Owls will have the week off until Saturday when they play their LEC home opener against Western Connecticut State at 4:00.
UMass Dartmouth will return to action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, when the Corsairs host MIT in a non-conference tilt.