GORHAM, Maine -- The Keene State College women's lacrosse team rallied from a two-goal deficit with four unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of play to defeat the University of Southern Maine, 13-11, in a Little East Conference game Saturday at Hodgdon Field.

The win was the sixth straight for the surging Owls who improve to 10-7 overall and 5-1 in the conference. The Owls, who tied the school record for consecutive wins, will be the second seed and receive a first round bye in the LEC tournament that begins Tuesday. The Huskies had their two-game winning streak stopped and slide to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in LEC play. The Huskies are in a three-way tie for fourth place with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Western Connecticut State University and await their tournament seed pending the tiebreakers.

Trailing 11-9 with under 10 minutes to play, freshman Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac, N.Y.) ignited the Owls' surge with a goal, assisted by sophomore Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Maine), with 9:12 remaining. Sophomore Jenny Lillis (West Islip, N.Y.) got the equalizer, again assisted by Sawyer, just over a minute later. Corace tallied the eventual game winner 18 seconds after Lillis' goal. Sophomore Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.) added an insurance goal with 6:02 left.

Sawyer led the Owls offensively with two goals and four assists. She now has 54 assists this season. Sophomore Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) had three goals, and freshman Samantha Benson (Hampstead, N.H.), Lillis and Corace all had two goals. Kirk leads KSC with 42 goals. Senior goalie Jen Gearing (Westfield, Mass.) had a strong game making 18 saves, tying a KSC record.

Junior Jessica Knight (Alfred, Maine./Massabesic) and senior Caitlin Albert (Scarborough, Maine) led USM with three goals and one assists apiece. Freshman Sarah Bonenfant (Scarborough, Maine) had two goals. Sophomore goalie Rachel Lolley (Gorham, Maine) recorded 16 saves.

The game opened with USM racing to a 4-0 in the first 14 minutes as four different players found the net. Keene State outscored USM, 7-1, over the final 16 minutes to take a 7-5 lead into the break. Sawyer had two goals and an assist in the run.

The Huskies opened the second half as they did the first half, putting together a 5-1 run of goals, with Albert getting two, to take a 10-8 lead with just under 13 minutes to play. Lillis and Knight then traded goals less than a minute apart to set the stage of the Owls final run.

(Courtesy USM Sports Information)