KEENE, N.H. 5/1/10 – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team earned the top seed in the Little East Conference tournament for the first time in school history, with a 10-9 victory over Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon.  The Owls finish the regular season 12-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play, while Southern Maine drops to 8-9 on the season and 2-4 in league action.

The Owls finish the regular season in a three-way tie for first place with Eastern Connecticut and Plymouth State, but hold the tiebreaker over the Panthers and the Warriors, because the Owls gave up the fewest goals in the games between the three teams this season (23).

KSC controlled the first-half, scoring the games first five goals and taking a 7-2 lead into the break. Five different Owls hit the scoreboard in the first stanza, with freshman Nicole Curry (Hampstead, N.H.) and junior Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.) being the only KSC players to score multiple markers. Junior midfielder Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Maine) assisted on four of the Owls first five goals.

The Huskies were paced by senior midfielder Jessica Knight's (Alfred, Maine) two unassisted goals in the first half.

USM came out firing in the second-half, scoring four unanswered goals in the first ten minutes, to cut the Owls lead to 7-6. Junior attack Mary Vaughan (Brunswick, Maine) netted two goals in the run, while freshman midfielder Shelby Turcotte (Lweiston, Maine) netted a goal and passed out two assists to fuel the Huskies attack.

KSC fought back, led by Albert's two unassisted goals and sophomore midfielder Caitlyn Corace's (Mahopac, N.Y.) tally from sophomore midfielder Emily Persano (Somers, Conn.), to stretch the Owls lead to 10-6.

The Huskies weren't done, scoring the games last three goals, including Vaughan's free-position shot goal with just 1:02 remaining in the game.

On the ensuing draw control, Albert came out of a crowd with possession and helped the Owls run out the clock and preserve the 10-9 victory.

Albert and Sawyer both had a game-high four points on the game.  Corace and Curry were the only other Owls with multiple points, with each of them scoring two goals.

Turcotte and Vaughan each had four points, with Turcotte scoring two goals and dishing out two helpers, while Vaughan scored four goals, all of which came in the second-half. Knight was the only other USM player to grab multiple points, with three points on two goals and an assist.

Sophomore goaltender Alyssa Marinaccio (Narragansett, R.I.) made 10 saves and allowed nine goals in the win for KSC, while USM net minder Samantha Kiesel (Lakeville, Mass.) made 19 stops and allowed 10 goals in the losing effort.

Keene State College earned a first-round bye and will return to action on Thursday, May 6th. Southern Maine will travel to Western Conn. State as the #5 seed in the LEC tournament on Tuesday, May 4th.