PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Maine) scored the game-winning goal with 15 seconds left in regulation play Sunday afternoon as third-seeded Keene State College edged top-seeded Mount Holyoke College, 18-17, in the championship game of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III women's lacrosse tournament at Plymouth State University's Arold Field.

“It ends the season on a bright note,” said KSC head coach Katie Arsenault. “We didn't do what we wanted to do as far as going to the NCAAs, but we turned it around and beat two teams that we lost to earlier in the season.”

Keene State pulled out the victory despite trailing 15-10 midway through the second and 8-1 in the first-half.  The determined Owls rattled off seven unanswered goals over a 12-minute span to take a 17-15 lead with four minutes to play in the second, and withstood a Mount Holyoke comeback that tied the game at 17-all with 46 seconds remaining.

Junior Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.) led the Owl comeback and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.  She scored six of KSC's seven goals in the big second-half surge and ended up with a game-high 11 points on seven goals and four assists along with a team-best five draw controls.  “We played the way we know how to play,” said Albert. “We came out and gave everything we had. We deserved a championship and we got one.”

Sawyer finished with three goals and three assists for the Owls, breaking her own school record for assists in a season with 60. Junior Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) and sophomore Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac, N.Y.) contributed three goals apiece.

Kirk and Albert moved into second and third all time in goals, with 148 and 133 respectively, in their careers. Albert finished the season with 63 goals, the fourth-best season in KSC history, behind Michelle Mason's 70, 68 and 64 goal seasons. 

Junior Clara Raugei (Alpharetta, Ga.) topped the Lyons' offense with five goals and one assist. Senior Perry Markell (Portsmouth, R.I.) tallied four goals and led all players with eight draw controls but was forced out of the game with 17 minutes remaining after receiving her second yellow card.  Senior Peggy Wefald (Granger, Ind.) chipped in with three goals and an assist while scooping up a team-high four ground balls.

Mount Holyoke opened the scoring in the first 30 seconds of the game and maintained the lead the entire first half.  Kirk put Keene State on the board to make it a 2-1 game less than four minutes in, but the Lyons responded with six unanswered goals to go up 8-1 with 13 minutes on the clock.  The Owls pulled it together and outscored Mount Holyoke 7-2 the rest of the half, including a pair of key goals in the final minute, to cut the margin to 10-8 at the break.

The Lyons outscored the Owls 5-2 in the first 12 minutes of the second half and appeared to hold a comfortable five-goal margin (15-10) but Keene State would not quit.  Albert scored four in a row to cut the deficit to one, and Corace knotted the score at 15-all with 10 minutes to play.

Two more goals by Albert gave Keene a two-goal lead with four minutes left, but this time Mount Holyoke would not quit. Wefald scored with two minutes to play and Raugei evened the score at 17-17 with 46 seconds left on the clock, but Sawyer won it for the Owls with 15 seconds remaining.

Mount Holyoke finished with a 44-30 advantage in shots and a 22-14 margin in draw controls.  KSC junior goalie Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Maine) earned the victory with five saves, coming off the bench in the second half in place of sophomore Alyssa Marinaccio (Narragansett, R.I.), who made 10 saves.

The Owls, who complete the season with a 14-5 record, captured their second ECAC championship and first since 2004 when they defeated Eastern Conn. 17-16 in overtime.  The Lyons, who were making their first appearance in the ECAC title game, wind up at 11-7.  The outcome was Keene State's first victory over Mount Holyoke in four career meetings, with all four games being decided by one or two goals.

(Courtesy Plymouth State Sports Information)