KEENE, N.H.  4/18/09 - The Keene State women's lacrosse team celebrated senior day with an 18-4 Little East Conference victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

Sophomore attack Jill Kirk (Ports Jefferson Station, N.Y.) scored seven goals and sophomore midfielder Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Me.) had two goals and a school record eight assists.  Her eight assists give hers 44 for the season, also a new Owl mark.  She currently has 79 helpers, three short of the career record of 82 held by Michelle Mason.

"It feels good to break the record because it's all about helping my teammates scored," said Sawyer.  "I was a point guard on my high school basketball team, so I always had a tendency to look for the pass first. 

"We just click when we're working together," said Sawyer about the KSC offense.  "We talk about making smart plays and it's paid off."  

"Lauren has always looked for the pass before shooting, but now she's showing more patience and making the right pass," said KSC Coach Katie Arsenault. 

UMass-Dartmouth scored the first goal of the game, but it all Keene State from there.  The Owls reeled off 12 straight goals to take a 12-1 lead to the locker room.

The Owls (8-7, 3-1 LEC), who extended their winning streak to four games, continued their scoring spree in the second half, netting four straight goals to go up 16-1.

Sophomore Jenny Lillis (West Islip, N.Y.) had two goals while Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.), Brittany Bastarache (Somers, Conn.), Samantha Benson (Hampstead, N.H.), Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac, N.Y.), Emily Persano (Somers, Conn.), and Dene Tully (Peabody, Mass.) had single tallies.

Freshman Allison O'Rourke (Weymouth, Mass.) scored twice, and Andrea Russo (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and Samantha Wonson (Lowell, Mass.) each had one goal for the Corsairs (5-7, 2-2 LEC), which had its five game winning streak halted.

Jen Gearing (Westfield, Mass.) and Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Me.) each played a half in goal and made three saves.

Corsair junior goalie Liz Miller (Littleton, Mass.) made seven saves.

Both teams return to LEC action on Tuesday, Keene State hosts rival Plymouth State and UMD travels to Eastern Conn.