KEENE, N.H. 9/15/2011 – Keene State College senior midfielder Alyce Ferenc (Rumney, N.H.) netted her first career hat-trick, as the Owls rolled to a 6-0 victory over the Castleton State Spartans on Thursday night at Owl Athletic Complex.

The Owls, who were locked up in a tight game with the Spartans last season on the road, knew they had to stay sharp to be victorious. "Last year when we played Castleton they gave us a good run," said Ferenc. "So we came out and knew we had to play real well together."

Ferenc started the scoring for the Owls early, as senior captain Jacki Benson (Hampstead, N.H.) sent the ball into the circle for a one-timer less than ten minutes into the game.  At the 13:48 mark, Ferenc scored on a designed play off a corner from senior Elizabeth Coffin (Sugar Hill, N.H.) for the early 2-0 lead. "I got some great passes from Izzy (Coffin) and a great run from Jacki (Benson) and we just did a nice job feeding the ball for goals tonight."

The Owls added two more before the halftime break, less than 30 seconds apart, as Coffin found the back of the goal after her shot deflected off a Spartan defender to give KSC a 3-0 advantage. At the 34:26 mark Ferenc netted her third goal of the night, off a pass from freshman forward Marisa Lemoine (Berlin, N.H.) for the 4-0 lead into the break.

KSC added two more just into the second half, as senior midfielder Aislynn Sherry (Rehoboth, Mass.) assisted on both, with senior Niki Smith (Southwick, Mass.) and junior Kalin Billert (Center Conway, N.H.) each deflecting in goals for the Owls 6-0 non-conference victory.

KSC outshot Castleton 24-5 in the contest and had eight penalty corners to the Spartans' four.

In goal for the Owls, freshman Caitlin Davino-Draper (Hanover, Mass.) and senior Amanda Davis (Hollis, N.H.) combined for the shutout each tallying a save apiece. Spartan netminder Bridget Dusha (Greenwich, N.Y.), who was pestered with shots all night, finished the game with 10 saves in the losing effort.

With the win KSC improved to 3-1 on the season, while Castleton fell to 1-5 on the year.

Keene State continues their stretch of five games in eight days this weekend, hosting LEC rival Fitchburg State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and regional foe Springfield College on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Spartans play next on Wednesday, as they will host New England College in a conference matchup at 4 p.m.