KEENE, N.H. 11/3/09 - Sophomore Aislynn Sherry (Rehoboth, Mass.) notched her first career hat trick and senior Carly Benning (Brewster, Mass.) scored twice to lead top-seed Keene State College past eighth-seed Salem State College 5-1 in a Little East Conference field hockey quarterfinal tournament game played at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday night. 

                Looking for its sixth straight LEC tournament title, Keene State (17-4) moves on the semifinals where they will host fourth seed Framingham State.  The Rams shutout fifth seeded Bridgewater State 2-0 in their quarterfinal match on Tuesday.   Framingham Stated defeated the Owls 3-0 in their regular season meeting back on Sept. 19. Salem State concludes its season with an 8-9 record.

                Sherry scored the only goal in the first half, a blast from the top of the circle that beat Viking junior goalie Jessica McKenna (Rowley, Mass.) at the 15:19 mark. 

                Salem State, which missed several corner opportunities late in the first half, maintained its momentum early in the second period.  In a flurry of shots, KSC senior goalie Vikki Stoessel (Derry, N.H.) stopped a drive by junior Karen Atkinson (Reading, Mass.), and senior back Erin Dallas (Marlow, N.H.) had a defensive save, her 10th of the season, on a bid by freshman Courtney Lynch (North Andover, Mass.).

                The defensive stand triggered the Owls offense as Benning scored a pair of goals in a span of seven minutes to put Keene State up 3-0.  Benning's first goal came on a corner opportunity while her second came on a bad-angle crossing ball. Benning's two goals give her 25 on the season and 52 in her career moving her into fourth place on KSC's all-time list.

                The Vikings cut the Owls lead to 3-1 at 54:04 when junior Katie LaPrad (Spencer, Mass.) scored on a corner.

                Sherry took over for there, scoring her fourth and fifth goals on the season on hard drives that found the back of the net.   "I'm usually the passer, said Sherry. "I'm not used to getting openings to score, so I have to take advantage when those opportunities happen."

                "Aislynn has been playing really well all year. The only thing she hasn't been doing is consistently is putting the ball in the net," said KSC Coach Amy Watson.  "It was nice she was able to finish tonight."

                Stoessel finished the game with four saves for the Owls while McKenna stopped 11 shots for Salem State.   Keene State outshot the Vikings 24-13.  SSC had a 9-6 advantage in corner opportunities.