KEENE, N.H. 4/2/11 – Junior Griffin Meehan (Avon, Conn.) tied his career high with seven goals to lead the Keene State College men's lacrosse team to a 20-11 Little East Conference victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday. It was the LEC opener for both teams.

Junior Matt Schairer (Wrentham, Mass.) and sophomore Taylor Jette (Simsbury, Conn.) also had strong offensive performances for the Owls. Each finished with four goals and three assists. 

"This was our first conference game, so we wanted to come out and make a statement, said Meehan, who leads KSC with 20 goals. "They came into the game undefeated and people were saying they had a chance to beat us.  We wanted to prove them wrong."

Keene State improves to 5-2 (1-0 LEC) while UMass-Dartmouth (7-1, 0-1 LEC) suffered its first loss of the season.

Dominating play from the start, the Owls scored the first three goals of the game with the last two tallies coming on man-up opportunities.  Sophomore Ian Hart (Richmond, N.H.), who finished with two goals and three assists, found Meehen alone at the right side of the net to make it 2-0 and Jette set up Schairer in front to make it 3-0.

With the score 3-1, Keene State strung together four goals in a three minute span to up 7-1.  Meehan had two of the goals. His first come in transition following a turnover and the second was a hard drive that beat UMD freshman goalie Nick Thayer (Chelmsford, Mass.).

Leading 7-2 at the end of the first quarter, Keene State outscored UMD 5-2 in the second quarter to take a 12-4 halftime lead.  Jette netted all three of his goals in the second quarter.  "We were clicking offensively and really moving the ball around," he said.  Meehan also scored a man-down goal in the quarter, racing toward the net; he was able to get off a shot before hitting the ground.

Schairer scored two man-up goals and Meehan found the back of the net two more times as KSC extended its lead to 18-5 after three quarters.

The Corsairs made the game a little closer in the final quarter, scoring six goals against the Owls' second unit.

Freshman Kyle Lasher (Norfolk, Mass.) scored his first college goal for KSC in the fourth quarter.  Junior Nick Brett (Loudon, N.H.) scored three of his six goals for the Corsairs in the last quarter.

Despite the one-sided win, KSC only had a slim advantage in shots (47-43), ground balls (22-17) and face-off (19-33).  However, the Owls excelled in special teams, scoring in six of their eight man-up chances.

Sophomore Jason Leser (Brewster, N.Y.) had another strong game in goal for the Owls, giving up five goals and making 10 saves.  Freshman Sean Brady (Franklin, Mass.) played 13 minutes in the fourth quarter, allowing six goals and making six saves.

Thayer played the first three quarters in goal for UMD and made 15 saves.  Sophomore Pete Foley (Northbridge, Mass.) took over in the fourth quarter and stopped two shots.

Keene State is at Wheaton College on Wednesday (4 p.m.).