'KEENE, N.H. 3/22/05 - The Keene State College women's lacrosse team christened its new turf field with a 8-6 victory over in-state rival New England College at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon. The game was originally scheduled to be played at NEC, but was moved to Keene due to unplayable conditions in Henniker.

 <img src="/athletics/images/wlax_mmason_jtoof.jpg"  align="right" style="margin-left:12"  width="250" height="296" alt="Michelle Mason photo by Jennifer Toof" border="0"> Michelle Mason (Fairport, N.Y.) had three goals and three assists and Kristal Lundegaard finished with three goals and an assist led the Owls' offense. Lanaya Nelson (Chester, Conn.) and Lauren Saunders (Fremont, N.H.) also netted goals for KSC (2-2).

Marissa Porri (Lynbrook, N.Y.) led NEC (1-3) with four goals and an assist.

Keene State, who jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead, had to withstand a late charge by the NEC to get the win.  An unassisted goal by Lacie Dorval (Berlin, N.H.) made it a 7-5 game with 11:36 to play.

KSC goalie Mandy Gray (Sharon, Mass.) came up big for KSC. The LEC's defensive player of the week made two key saves on Dorval and Porri to keep it a two goal game. After Jacquie Parker (Keene, N.H.) went down in the circle, Mason scooped up the lose ball and fed Lundegaard for a goal that put KSC back up 8-5 with 3:04 left to play.

"We were so confident in the first half and I think we felt like we sealed the deal," said Mason, who has a team-high 10 goals.  "We had a communication break down and they took advantage of it.  It was really nice to get a win on our new field. There were some anxious moments, but I knew we were going to be able to pull it off."

After losing the first three games in the series between the two teams, KSC has reeled off victories in the last four meeting against NEC.

Keene State host Springfield College on Thursday (4 p.m.).