KEENE, N.H. 5/6/10 – Led by sophomore Griffin Meehan's (Simsbury, Conn.) school-record 60th goal of the season, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team upended in-state rival Plymouth State 16-4 in the Little East Conference semifinals at Owl Athletic Complex on Thursday afternoon. The Owls advance to the LEC Championship game to be played on Saturday at 5 p.m. against Eastern Conn. State at Owl Athletic Complex.

The Owls, who lost to the Warriors in Willimantic, Conn. in the championship game 12-8 last year, won the LEC title in 2007 and 2005.

Meehan's goal with 10:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, was his fourth of the game and 60th of the season, breaking Bob Bonnes' mark of 59 from 1999. “Lacrosse is a team sport,” said Meehan. “It's great to have my name on a record like that but I don't try to get caught up on the individual things.”

KSC played well early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead on sophomore Matt Shairer's (Wrentham, Mass.) goal from freshman Jonathan Rodrick (Plaistow, N.H.) with 11:03 left in the second quarter.

Plymouth hit the scoreboard with 9:47 left in the 2nd, on Teddy Akriviellis' (Dover, Mass.) strike from Andrew Eriksen (Beverly, Mass.) to cut the KSC lead to 5-1. Senior Brett Zabrowski (Bayville, N.Y.) would net the only other Panther goal of the half, with a man advantage at the 3:44 mark.

KSC wouldn't allow PSU to get any closer, as junior midfielder Ryan Shairs (Beverly, Mass.) would score the last goal of the half to give the Owls a 8-2 lead at the half.

The Owls once again outscored the Panthers 8-2 in the second-half, allowing a pair of shorthanded goals to PSU 15 seconds apart. Senior Logan Irish (Somers, Conn.) netted the first, while Akriviellis took a pass from Eriksen for the second with 13:31 remaining in the game.

The Owls proved to be too much, as senior midfielder Riley Benson (Derry, N.H.) took a pass from freshman Kyle Peterson (Franklin, Mass.) to put the exclamation point on the game and send KSC to the finals with a 16-4 victory.

12 different Owls scored at least one point in the win, with Shairer's six points on three goals and three assists leading the way. Meehan also dished out an assist to go with his four goals for five points on the day. Freshman Taylor Jette (Simsbury, Conn.) was the only other Owl to earn multiple points with three goals and an assist. Junior Michael Araujo (Southborough, Mass.) went 9-for-15 on the face-offs and scooped up nine groundballs in the victory.

Akriviellis and Eriksen were the only Panthers to tally multiple points. Akriviellis scored two goals while Eriksen assist on both of his goals.

Junior goalie Alec Corliss (Waltham, Mass.) played the first three quarters allowing two goals and making 10 saves in the win. Plymouth split time with Kevin Hayes (Beverly, Mass.) and Jack Tyo (East Sandwich, Mass.) with the two totaling 14 saves and 16 goals against in the losing effort.