KEENE, N.H. 4/30/11 – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team celebrated senior day with a 18-8 Little East Conference victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

            Winners of seven straight games, Keene State (11-5, 5-1 LEC) will be the second seed in the upcoming Little East tournament and host a semifinal game on Thursday (6 p.m.). UMass-Dartmouth (5-9, 1-5 LEC) will be the sixth seed in the tournament and will travel to third seed Southern Maine for a quarterfinal game on Tuesday.

            Junior Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac, N.Y.) netted four goals to lead the Owls. Known for her scoring, senior Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.) dished out a career high six assists to go with one goal.  "Today was senior day, so I wanted to get everyone the ball and see what we could do," said Albert.  "We were a little emotional, but we were ready to play and show what we could do."

            Leading 2-1, the Owls reeled off eight straight goals to go up 10-1.  Seniors Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), sophomore Lauren Brown (Agawam, Mass.) and Corace each scored two goals during the first-half flurry.  Keene State led 12-2 at halftime.

            The Corsairs scored four of the first five goals in the second half to make it a 13-6 game.  However consecutive goals by Corace and sophomore Nicole Curry (Hampstead, N.H.) extended the Owls lead back up to 15-6. 

            Several Owl defenders, including senior Shannon Palumbo (Guilford, Conn.) had an opportunity to play up front in the second half.  "I don't usually get to play offense, so it was a lot of fun," said Palumbo, who notched the first goal and assist of her career.

            Senior Jenny Lillis (West Islip, N.Y.), Kirk, Brown and Curry each finished the game with two goals for KSC.

            Sophomore Brittney Enos (East Falmouth, Mass.) and freshman Taylor Corsano (Bourne, Mass.) each had two goals and junior Allison O'Rourke (Weymouth, Mass.) chipped in with a goal and three assists for UMD.

            Freshmen Erin Taylor (Brewster, N.Y.) and Libby Curran (Londonderry, N.H.) each played a half in goals for the Owls.  Taylor finished with one save and Curran stopped two shots.

            Corsair sophomore goalie Angelina Donovan (Medford, Mass.) finished the game with 12 saves.

            Prior to the game, Keene State honored seniors Emily Persano (Somers, Conn.), Annie Brown (Westwood, Mass), Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, Me.), Missy Luzzi (Oakland, N.J.), Lillis, Palumbo, Albert, Kirk, and student assistant coach Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Me.).