'SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 23, 2006 - The Keene State College women's lacrosse team continues to struggle, dropping an 8-5 non-conference game to Springfield College in its home opener on Thursday at Benedum Field in Springfield, Mass. 

With the victory, the Pride improves to 2-2 overall on the season as the Owls fall to 0-5.

Freshman midfielder Meghan Wisell (South Burlington, Vt.) scored three goals in the second half to lead the Pride.

Kristal Lundegaard (Babylon, N.Y.) led Keene State with three goals and an assist, while Colleen Murphy (Mansfield, Mass.) and Andrea Mitchell (Bow, N.H.) chipped in with single goals.

SC led early in this one, building a 2-0 lead in the first ten minutes of action on two unassisted scores from senior forward Holly Carmody (Wayland, Mass.).

Keene State answered back quickly, however, going on a 3-1 run with Lundegaard and Mitchell netting single goals just under four minutes apart, and Murphy tallying a goal with 1:43 remaining in the half to knot the score at 3-3 going into the break. 

In the second stanza, the Pride put together a 4-0 run to take the contest by a 7-3 margin. Lundegaard scored consecutive goals at the 16:01 and 10:29 mark of the half to bring the Owls within two (7-5), but would get no closer.  

Mandy Gray (Sharon, Mass.) finished with seven saves in goal for Keene State.  Nicole Flores stopped six shots for the Pride.

Other scorers for SC included junior midfielder Lisa Thomas (Whitman, Mass.) with her third goal of the season, and freshman forward Heather Dobson (Longmeadow, Mass.), netting her first career collegiate goal.  Junior forward Ashley Martell (Billerica, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Lindsay Bugbee (Granby, Conn.) chipped in with assists in the win.

KSC hopes to get on the winning track in a non-conference game at Franklin Pierce next Wednesday (6 p.m.). The Pride will next host MIT on Saturday morning, March 25, in a 10:00 a.m. start. 

(courtesy Springfield College Sports Information)