KEENE, N.H. 3/5/09 - The Keene State men's lacrosse team opened its season with a 14-7 non-conference victory over Bates College at chilly Owl Athletic on Thursday afternoon.

KSC Coach Mark Theriault gave his team mixed reviews for their season opening performance. "I think we had some moments of greatness as well some moments that we needed a lot of improvement," he said.  "I think it's a really great test early in the season against a formidable opponent."

Freshman attack Griffin Meehan (Simsbury, Conn.) had a strong debut for the Owls, scoring four goals. "I thought we played well as a team," Meehan said.  "We worked the ball around well and I was fortunate to put a few into the net."

Senior midfielder Casey Broadersen (Derry, N.H.) and junior midfielder Jamie Lesage (Exeter, N.H.) chipped in with three goals each.

Sophomore Alec Corliss (Waltham, Mass.), who was making his first start between the pipes for the Owls, kept the Bobcats off the board early with several point blank saves.  "I just tried to go out there be as focused as I can and react to the ball,"said Corliss, who finished with 23 saves. "If it happened to hit me a couple of times even better,"

"The biggest question going into the season was who is going to take over for Matt Johnson and Alec Corliss proved to be a worthy replacement," said Theriault.  "He played out of his mind today."

Broadersen set the tone offensively by scoring KSC's first two goals in a span of just six seconds.  "We actually work on that play in practice," he said.  "I just took the ball off the face-off and ran down the field."

Keene State led 3-1 after the first quarter and 6-3 at halftime.  Meehan scored two of the Owls' three third quarter goals putting them up 9-3.  

The Owls had some breakdowns defensively late in the game allowing the Bobcats to score three fourth quarter goals. 

Junior Bryan Sweeney (East Lyme, Conn.) a defensive midfielder for the Owls,  had the best hit of the game leveling the Bobcat's Alex Cronstein (New York, N.Y.) as he went in for a shot midway in the second quarter.

Junior attack Joshua Luft (Lake Peeksville, N.Y.) netted a pair and senior attacks Tony Santa Fe (Derry, N.H.), who also had a couple of assists, and Rodney Arganese (Trumbull. Conn.) each scored for the Owls, who were sporting new home uniforms.  

Senior attack Tyler Moore (North Andover, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Evan Bagley (Cape Elizabeth, Me.) had two goals each for Bates, who scored three times on man-up situations.

Adam Schraff (Glyndon, Md.), the Bobcat's freshman goalie, made eight saves. 

Keene State hosts Wheaton College next Wednesday before leaving on its spring week trip to Orlando, Fla.