KEENE, N.H. 4/29/08 - Senior attack Michelle Mazzotta (Cromwell, Conn.) netted four goals to lead third seed Keene State to a dominating 17-5 victory over sixth seed Rhode Island College in a quarterfinal Little East Conference tournament women's lacrosse game played Tuesday night at Owl Athletic Complex.

            Keene State (12-6) advances to the semifinals where it will face second seed Southern Maine in Gorham on Thursday (3:30 p.m.).  In other quarterfinal action, fourth seed UMass-Dartmouth defeated fifth Western Conn. 18-10.  UMD will take on top seed Eastern Conn in the second semifinals game on Thursday.  The two semifinal winners will meet for the championship Saturday at the highest remaining seed.

            After the two teams traded goal in the opening four minutes, Keene State took total command, scoring the next 10 goals of the game to take an 11-1 lead.  Mazzotta scored all four of her goals and freshman attack Jenny Lillis (West Islip) had a pair of goals in the uprising.  The Owls went to the locker room with a 14-3 lead.

            It's a quarterfinal game, so we really wanted to win," said Mazzotta, who upped her goal total to 33 on the season. "Our offense really flowed.  So many players on the team can score."

            "The seniors came out and led by example and that's what we were looking to do," said KSC Coach Michelle Mason.

            Senior attack Lanaya Nelson, who finished with the game with three assist, set a KSC season assists record (35).  She broke the previous record (34) held by Mason.

            "It feels good to break the coaches' record,' said Nelson.  I didn't know I was close until last week."

            "It couldn't be a better person to break my record," said Mason. "We played together when Lanaya was a freshman, so I knew she had the passing skills to someday set the record."  

            Freshman attack Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Me.) also put her name in the KSC record book by tying the mark for assists in a game (6).  Natalie Kent also had six helpers in a game against Castleton State in 2002.

            Sawyer had three goals to go with her six assists.  Freshman Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), Lillis, and senior Andrea Mitchell (Bow, N.H.) had two goals each.  Sophomore Dene Tully (Peabody, Mass.), and freshmen Emily Persano (Somers, Conn.), Annie Brown (Westwood, Mass.), and Kellie Olson (Spofford, N.H.) also had single goals.

            Senior defender Sydney Culbertson (North Kingston, R.I.) had two goals and two assists for the Anchorwomen, who complete their season with a 3-12 record.

            Junior Jen Gearing (Westfield, Mass.) and freshman Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Me.) each played a half in goal and made three saves.

            RIC goalie Hilary Switzer (Woonsocket, R.I.) stopped five shots.

            Keene State has won all 11 meetings between the two teams, including a 20-8 victory earlier this season in Providence.  The Owls faced the Anchorwomen twice in opening-round tournament action, winning 20-2 in 2002 and 12-11 (3-OT) last year.

            Keene State is looking for its first trip to the LEC finals since 2004. But first they have to get by USM, which beat them 18-15 on Saturday. 

            "We want to go back to Southern Maine and show them how we really can play," said Mazzotta. 

            "I think we're going to go up there and take care of business," said Mason.  "We came out flat and learned a lesson the last time we played them.  If we go up there and play as a team, I like our chances."