'KEENE, N.H. 09/03/05 - Sophomore Marrissa Boccaccio (West Hartford, Conn.) scored a pair of goals to lead the Keene State College field hockey team to a 3-0 home opening shutout victory over non-conference foe Nichols College at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.   

KSC improves to 1-1.  It was the first game of the season for Nichols. 

The Owls dominated from the start scoring their first goal five minutes into the game. Following a flurry in front of the net, Boccaccio bounced in a shot from Amanda Rosenbeck (Wilder, Vt.) for a 1-0 lead.

Keene State extended its lead to 2-0 when Steph Georgevits (Concord, N.H.) scored on a perfectly executed corner play at the 21:13 mark of the second half. Rachel Ladd (Bridgewater, Mass.) took the corner pass and rifled a shot towards the goal and Georgevits tapped it past Bison goalie Kara Cicchiello.

Nichols had its best scoring opportunity on a corner play with eight minutes remaining in the game, but sophomore Stephanie Tenczar's (West Springfield, Mass.) shot was kicked out by KSC goalie Sara Joyce (Hampstead, N.H.).

Boccaccio fired a shot from the top of the arc at the 2:50 mark to give the Owls their final goal.

Joyce made one save for KSC for her first shutout victory of the season. Kara Cicchiello (14 saves), with late help from Monique Porter (one save), split time in goal for Nichols.

Keene State plays at Skidmore College on Monday (2 p.m.).