KEENE, N.H. 10/12/10 – The Keene State College field hockey team dropped a 2-0 non-conference game to #16 ranked Middlebury College at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.

After a scoreless first half the visiting Panthers netted two second half goals. Freshman Elinore O'Brien (New Canaan, Conn.) gave Middlebury a 1-0 lead at the 15:10 mark when she took a crossing pass from sophomore Charlotte Gardiner (Larchmont, N.Y.) and beat KSC senior goalie Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Me.) at the side of the net.  Sophomore Lauren Greer (North Hampton, N.H.) scored the Panther's second goal in the closing seconds of the game.  Gardiner also picked-up an assist on the play.

Keene State best opportunity to get on board came during one of their two penalty corner opportunities.  Junior Kerry Howe's (Atlantic Highland, N.J.) top of the circle drive went just wide of the post.

Both teams got strong play from their defense.  With the scored tied, senior Middlebury's Madison Kahn (St. Louis, Mo.) made a defensive save on a scoring bid by junior Alyce Ferenc (Rumney, N.H.) five minutes into the second half.

With three minutes to play, KSC senior back Kellie Warning (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) stopped a shot by Greer that got behind Ledoux.

Following the game, Keene State Coach Amy Watson said playing a team like Middlebury will only help the Owls down the road.  "It's nice to play a team like Middlebury because it forces you to play your best and work your hardest," she said.

"We had a couple of opportunities and I thought we hung with them until the end. Overall we played well against them. If we can play well against a team like Middlebury, you're playing good field hockey."

Controlling play most of the game, Middlebury had a wide advantage in shots (19-3) and penalty corners (11-2).

Ledoux finished the game with eight saves.  

Both Junior Becca Shaw (South Burlington, Vt.), who played the first 62:41 of the game and sophomore Madeline Brooks (Clayton, Mo.), who saw 7:19 of action, were not credited with saves.

Keene State (10-4) returns to Little East Conference play on Saturday when it hosts Worcester State. Winners of fourth straight, Middlebury (6-3) is at Conn. College on Saturday.