CASTLETON, Vt. 9/20/10 - Keene State College goalie Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Maine) made 13 saves and the Owls received goals from three different players to earn a 3-1 win over Castleton State College Monday evening in non-conference field hockey action at Spartan Stadium.

The loss ended Castleton's win-streak at five games, as the Spartans fall to 5-2. Keene State improves to 6-1 on the season.

Castleton had a pair of solid looks to break into the scoring column early on, but Ledoux was able to turn both Sarah Flore (Springfield, Vt.) attempts away to preserve the 0-0 score. Both of Flore's shots came from the point off of Castleton penalty corners, and Ledoux was equal to the task on both, turning away a pair of Flore rockets.

The Owls' best chance at an early score came with just less than 18 minutes remaining, when Siobhan Whittemore (Springfield, Vt.) turned away three-straight attempts from point-blank range, one by Leigh Smith (Sanborton, N.H.) and two from Niki Smith (Southwick, Mass.).

Keene State was able to break through with just over nine minutes remaining as Kalin Billert (Center Conway, N.H.) scored her first goal of the season. An Owl penalty corner set up the score as Elizabeth Coffin (Sugar Hill, N.H.) played the ball inside to Aislynn Sherry (Rehoboth, Mass.). Sherry's first shot was blocked, but her second made it on goal. Whittemore was able to turn it away with her stick, but Billert pounced on the loose ball and sent it home.

The Owls came out and pressured the Spartan defense early on in the second half as Jacki Benson (Hampstead, N.H.) scored her first of the season just one minute and 26 seconds into the second stanza. Kerry Howe (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.) played a perfect cross in front of the cage that drew Whittemore out of position. The pass landed perfectly on Benson's stick, and she potted it into the open goal. Two minutes later Coffin gave the Owls some breathing room with her eighth of the season, beating a Castleton defender for a one-on-one situation with Whittemore. Coffin wasted little time, unleashing a rocket past Whittemore just inside the near post.

Courtney Nolan (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.) brought Castleton within two goals with just under 20 minutes left, netting her fourth of the season off a rebound. Nolan played a penalty corner into Rachel Preusser (Craryville, N.Y.) who forced Ledoux to make a sprawling save on her shot attempt and Nolan was there to clean up the rebound.

Castleton had several other excellent chances to pull even closer, but Ledoux made seven second half saves to preserve the win. With 13 minutes remaining, Ledoux made a fantastic save on a well-executed penalty corner by the Spartans. Blake Wardwell (Woodstock, Vt.) initiated the play short to Nolan who fired a cross to Stephanie Paproski (Newtown, Conn.) on the far side, but Ledoux somehow managed to make it across in time to turn away the attempt.

Whittemore finished with eight saves of her own, as Castleton held a slight 20-15 edge in shot attempts and a 19-7 advantage in penalty corners.

The Spartans will open their North Atlantic Conference schedule Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when they travel to Rivier College. Keene State plays host to Trinity on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

(Courtesy Castleton State Sports Information)