KEENE, N.H.  4/11/09 - Eastern Conn. State University overcame a 5-1 first quarter deficit to post a 14-10 Little East Conference victory over Keene State College at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

With the victory, ECSU (7-3, 3-0 LEC) moves into first place in the LEC standings.  Keene State falls to 4-3 and 2-1 in conference play.

DJ Simmons (Mystic, Conn.) netted six goals and Matthew Savage (Southington, Conn.) added four goals to lead the Warriors.

Rodney Arganese (Trumbull, Conn.) scored three goals and Ryan Shairs (Beverly, Mass.) finished with two goals to lead the Owls.

After Zach Malouf (Norwich, Conn.) scored the first goal of the game, KSC netted five consecutive goals to take a 5-1 lead after the first quarter.

Eastern dominated the second and third quarters with 12 unanswered goals to go up 13-5.  The Warriors began the second half with two man-up goals by Simmons and Malouf and the flood gates opened.  KSC came back to outscore the Warriors 5-1 in the final quarter. 

"Momentum shifted dramatically, there were a lot of penalties and they gained and advantage and I don't think we took care of the ball like we did in the first quarter," said KSC Coach Mark Theriault.  "We were a totally different team in the second quarter.  We deviated from what our game plan."

Kyle Savage (Southington, Conn.) had a strong game in goal for ECSU, stopping 17 KSC shots.  Alec Corliss (Waltham, Mass.) started in goal for KSC and made eight saves.  David Brochu (Derry, N.H.) played the final 18:32 and made two saves.

"It's a bit of a humbling experience because of the rivalry," Theriault said.  "It's very simple, if we don't get up for the next few Little East games were not going to do very well. I know we can compete with Eastern. If we play like we did in the first quarter we'll do just fine."

Keene State hosts UMass-Boston on Tuesday.