KEENE, N.H. 3/10/09 - The Keene State College women's lacrosse team dropped its home opening game of the season to Mount Holyoke College 13-12 at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon.  KSC lost to MHC by the same score last year in South Hadley, Mass.

Junior midfielder Dene Tully (Peabody, Mass.) and sophomore attack Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) had four goals each to lead Keene State (0-2).

Junior midfielder Peggy Wefald (Granger, Ind.) had five goals for the Lyons (1-1); including the game-winner at the 19:55 mark of the second half.

Trailing 7-6 at the half, KSC tied the score on a goal by freshman Samantha Benson (Hampstead, N.H.) who came from behind the net to score her second goal of the game.

Mount Holyoke scored four consecutive man-up goals, the last on a free position goal by sophomore attack Clara Raugei (Alpharetta, Ga.), to go up 11-7. Raugei had three goals in the game for Mount Holyoke.

The Owls came back to tie the score (11-11) on two goals each by Tully and Kirk.  Kirk last goal on a free position was a hard grounder that found the back of the net midway in the second half.

Going up 13-11 on goals by Raugei and Wefald, the Lyons maintained control of the ball until sophomore attack Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Me.) scored the Owls final goal with 55 seconds to play. Sawyer had four assist to go with her two goals.

Wefald got possession on the following draw control as the Lyons held on for the win.

KSC Coach Katie Arsenault said the Owls inability to get the ball on draw controls was a key factor in the game.  "We don't their height, but it seemed like they wanted the ball a lot more every single time," she said.  "Offensively, we haven't utilized the full field in our first two games, so we have a lot of work to do."

Senior goalie Jen Gearing (Westfield, Mass.) finished the game with 11 saves for the Owls while sophomore goalie Missy Hartley (Berthoud, Col.) stopped six shots for the Lyons.

The Owls head to Florida next week for three spring week games against Allegheney (Pa.) College, Fredonia (N.Y.) State, and Plymouth State.

Mount Holyoke is at Westfield State on Thursday (4:30 p.m.).