LEWISTON, Maine 2/29/12 – In a back and forth defensive battle, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team opened up their season with a heartbreaking 7-6 loss in overtime to NESCAC rival Bates College on Wednesday night at Garcelon Field.

"I just think we seemed flat offensively," said KSC head men's lacrosse coach Mark Theriault. "We weren't scoring a lot so it was hard to get into a groove, but I was pleased about how we played defensively."

The Owls had a 6-5 lead in the fourth quarter, but Bobcat senior midfielder Jason Hichborn (Yarmouth, Maine) tied the game with 48 seconds left in regulation with his second goal of the game.

In the overtime, Hichborn would earn the hat-trick scoring 1:58 into the sudden-death period for the 7-6 Bates victory.

Senior Matt Crimmins (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) gave KSC the lead early in the fourth stanza on a fast-break off a pass from senior captain Matt Schairer (Wrentham, Mass.) for the 6-5 Owl lead.

On the very next face-off, Bates broke free and was poised to even the game, as Bobcat sophomore attack Wylie Leabo (Belmont, Mass.) was alone with KSC goalkeeper Jack Rogers (Acton, Mass.), but the freshman netminder was up to the task, stoning Leabo with a kick save to keep the Owls on top. "Jack (Rogers) played a great game," said Theriault. "That was a really nice debut for a freshman."

After a slow start to the game and a 1-1 score at the end of the first period, the action picked up in the second. Schairer evened the game at 2-2 on a submarine shot off a pass from Taylor Jette (Simsbury, Conn.) with11:03 remaining, and senior midfielder Ian Hart (Richmond, N.H.) found the back of the net at the 4:14 mark to tie the game at 3-3.

In the third, it looked like the Owls were going to head into the final quarter down by one, but senior captain Chris Mallon (New Fairfield, Conn.) scored his first goal of the season, off a pass from Schairer, with no time left on the clock to even the contest at five apiece and give KSC the momentum heading into the fourth quarter.

Hart and Crimmins each had two goals for the Owls. Schairer led KSC in points with three assists, while Jette had two assists of his own.

On the face-offs, senior David Shaw (Acton, Mass.) went five-for-13 for the Owls, while Bates freshman Mac Jackson (Hood River, Oregon) took eight-of-11 opportunities for the Bobcats.

Junior transfer Tommy Todd (Billerica, Mass.) led the Owls defensively with two caused turnovers and two groundballs.

Rogers finished the game with 16 saves in the losing effort, while Bates senior netminder Adam Scharff (Glyndon, Maryland) made 11 saves in the victory.

The Owls were outshot by Bates 35-28 in the contest scooped up more groundballs than the Owls with 27 to KSC's 13.

KSC will return to action this Saturday, as they will head to Troy, N.Y. to take on RPI at 1 p.m. "This is going to be a tough pill to swallow," said Theriault. "We have no time to wallow, we have to move on and get ready for Saturday."