COLCHESTER, VT 3/6/10 - The Keene State College women's lacrosse team opened up the 2010 season with a 9-8 road victory over Division II Saint Michael's College on Saturday afternoon at Duffy Field. The Owls, who were up 7-3 at halftime, scored only twice in the second half, with freshman Lauren Brown's (Agawam, Mass.) third goal of the game with 11 minutes left, being the game-winner.

The Owls found the back of the net three to break out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.), Jenny Lillis (West Islip, N.Y.) and Brown doing the scoring. Junior Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Maine) assisted on two of the first three goals for KSC on her way to five assists on the day.

Saint Michael's cut the lead to 4-3, on a free-position shot goal from Alee Ramos (Woodbridge, Conn.) with 6:12 left in the first half.

KSC would again net three in a row, with Brown, Sawyer and Samantha Benson (Hampstead, N.H.) each tallying a goal to take a 7-3 lead into the break.

In the second half, Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) scored her second goal of the game to extend the Owls their largest lead at 8-3 with 21:39 left in the game.

After that the Purple Knights would score four of the next five goals, including a free-position shot goal from Elizabeth Siekman with 1:37 left in the game to make it only 9-8 Owls. However, the Owls earned the face-off and ran the clock out en-route to the victory.

The Owls had fewer turnovers than Saint Michael's (25-16) and made 14-18 clears to the Purple Knights 10-23.

KSC goalie Alyssa Marinaccio (Narragansett, R.I.) made nine saves to pick her first win as an Owl, while Saint Michael's netminder Sandra Palumbo made 13 stops and allowed nine goals in the loss.

The Owls return to action Thursday, March 11th with a road game against Curry College at 4 p.m.