NEW LONDON, Connecticut 3/30/09 – The
Keene State College men's lacrosse team's second-half
comeback fell just short, to the No. 10 ranked Connecticut College
Camels, 12-11 on Tuesday afternoon at Silfen Field. The Camels, who
were also ranked 2nd in this week's New England regional
poll, remain undefeated this season at 7-0, while the Owls fall to
3-5 and 0-3 against NESCAC teams this season.
“I purposely scheduled tough opponents so when our
conference schedule rolled in we would be ready to go,” said
KSC head coach Mark Theriault. “We were down
at the half and we showed great composure against a very talented
team and I am impressed with the way our guys handled it.”
Conn. College started the game out red hot, scoring five
unanswered goals to begin the first period. Steve
Dachille paced the Camels with four of his five goals in
the first quarter. KSC's lone tally in the first came with
1:02 remaining when Matt Schairer (Wrentham,
Mass.) took a pass from Ryan Shairs (Beverly,
Mass.) for the first Owls goal.
In the second period, Conn College added three more to
KSC's two goals to take an 8-3 lead into the break.
The Owls mounted a comeback, scoring eight out of the next 11
goals to even the contest at 11-11. Sophomore midfielder
Jonathan Rodrick (Plaistow, N.H.) scored the
equalizer with 2:35 remaining in the fourth quarter off a pass from
sophomore J.T. Galloway (Simsbury, Conn.).
The Camels would come away with the victory, on Steve
Eicher's unassisted score with 1:40 remaining in the
game for the 12-11 victory.
KSC was led by Schairer and Rodrick with three goals apiece.
Sophomore Griffin Meehan (Simsbury, Conn.) only
netted one goal, but dished out three assists for the Owls.
Galloway and freshman Taylor Jette (Simsbury,
Conn.) each had two goals in the losing effort. Local
freshman Ian Hart (Richmond, N.H.) passed out two
helpers for KSC.
Rob Moccia made nine saves in net for Conn.
College in the victory, while junior Alec Corliss (Waltam,
Mass.) stopped one shot before giving way to freshman
Jason Lesser (Brewster, N.Y.) for the final 38
minutes of action. Lesser finished the game with four saves and
allowed just five goals in the losing effort.
The Owls return to action this Saturday, with their 2010 LEC
opener at UMass-Dartmouth for a 1 p.m. showdown.
