KEENE, N.H. 4/1/08 - Senior captain Ryan Hazelton (Chester, N.H.) scored five goals and junior Tony Santa Fe (Derry, N.H.) tied a Owl record with six assists to lead Keene State to a 19-1non-conference men's lacrosse victory over Wheaton College at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

            Keene State (4-0), ranked #18 in this week's USILA poll, was playing its first home game of the season.  Wheaton College drops to 2-5.

            The Owls struggled in the early going before settling down.  The Lyons scored on several transition plays, including a goal by Chris Landers (Manchester, Mass.) giving Wheaton an early 3-2 lead.

            But it was all Keene State from there. The Owls scored the next 12 goals in the game. Returning to the line-up for the first time this season, senior attack Peter Lauranzano (Beverly, Mass) tied the game and sophomore attack Josh Nugent (Cheshire, Conn.) netted a pair as KSC went up 6-3 at the end of the first quarter. 

            KSC's defense shut down in the Lyons in the second quarter and the Owls scored four unanswered goals to take a 10-3 halftime lead.  The Owls scored the first four goals of the third quarter to push their lead up to 14-3.

            "It's was nice having Lauranzano back, he takes a lot of pressure of Santa Fe," said KSC Coach Mark Theriault.  "Even though Peter hasn't been playing, he's worked with the guys for a long time, so he was able to set right in and make an impact.  We've been struggling offensively, so a game like today can boost everyone's confidence."

            Lauranzano finished the game with a goal and two assists.

            Santa Fe, who also had two goals, tied the assists record set by Ben Bradley against Norwich during the 2003 season.

            Hazelton's five goals give him eight for the season.  Nugent also had a break out game with four goals.  Mike Fontaine (Wolfeboro, N.H.) found the back of the net twice while Easton Kezer (Derry, N.H.), Rodney Arganese (Trumbull, Conn.), Ryan Doherty (East Lyme, Conn.), Riley Benson (Chester, N.H.), and Warren Dill (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) added single tallies for KSC.

            Landers finished the game with two goals for Wheaton, who also got single goals from eight different players.

            Matt Johnson (Derry, N.H.) stopped seven shots for the Owls before giving way to freshman Alec Corliss (Waltham, Mass.) who made one save in the final four minutes.

            Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, Conn.), who played the first half in goal for Wheaton, made 11 saves.  Alex Lewis (Westfield, N.J.) stopped three shots in the second half.

            Keene State returns to LEC play on Saturday when it hosts UMass-Boston (1 p.m.).  Wheaton is home on Saturday for a Pilgrim League game against Lasell College.