GORHAM, Maine -- The Keene State women's lacrosse team lost to the University of Southern Maine 17-16 in a semifinal Little East Conference tournament game played Thursday in Gorham, me.

The second-seeded Huskies, who defeated the Owls 18-15 six days ago to clinch second place in the regular season standings, improve to 8-8 on the season. The third-seeded Owls (12-7) will look to receive an ECAC tournament berth. The Huskies will travel to Willimantic, Conn., on Saturday to play top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in the championship game. Eastern Connecticut advanced to the final with a 20-3 win over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Sophomore Jessica Knight (Alfred, Maine/Massabesic) led the Huskies offensively scoring a game-high five goals and she dished out one assist. Freshmen Kristy Kendrick (Waterboro, Maine/Massabesic) and Mary Vaughan (Brunswick, Maine/Pomfret School) had four goals apiece, and senior Justene Dorr (Gorham, Maine/Kimball Union) and junior Caitlin Albert (Scarborough, Maine) each had two goals.

For Keene State, freshman Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) and senior Michelle Mazzotta (Cromwell, Conn./Mercy) each had four goals. Freshman Jenny Lillis (West Islip, N.Y.) found the net three times. Sophomore Dene Tully (Peabody, Mass.) and senior Lanaya Nelson (Chester, Conn./Mercy) scored two goals apiece. USM senior goalie Katie Quartuccio (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Millbrook School) finished the game with 17 saves. Keene State junior Jen Gearing (Westfield, Mass.) registered 12 stops.

Southern Maine took a 10-5 lead into the halftime break as Knight and Vaughan scored three and Kendrick added two. USM scored five consecutive goals to after the Keene State tied the game 5-5 on Nelson's free-position shot with 12:55 to go. USM took advantage of its free position attempts in the half converting on all five attempts.

The Owls chipped away at the lead and finally tied the game at 14-14 with 8:16 remaining on a goal by Kirk. The Owls outscored the Huskies 6-2 over a span of 15 minutes to forge the tie. Over the next four minutes, Dorr and Mazzotta scored for their respective sides to make it 15-15. USM, which never trailed in the game, took the lead for good with 3:08 left as Kendrick converted on a top-corner, free-position shot. Vaughan scored what proved to be the game-winner with 13.7 seconds remaining off an assist from Knight. Mazzotta scored in the final second to account for the final score.

(Courtesy USM Sports Information)