NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. 4/21/12 – Junior midfielder J.T. Galloway (Simsbury, Conn.) led the Owls with five goals, as the Keene State College men's lacrosse team defeated Little East Conference rival UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex.

"It was a rollercoaster game for us," said KSC head coach Mark Theriault. "We started off well, fell off in the third quarter, and then just dominated in the fourth. Road LEC wins are tough to come by, so we are happy with the effort today."

Behind Galloway offensively for KSC, was junior Taylor Jette (Simsbury, Conn.) and senior Matt Schairer (Wrentham, Mass.) with three goals apiece. Schairer finished with a game-high three assists as well, to total six points on the game, while Jette added two helpers to finish with five.

"I think we are getting better offensively," said Theriault. "We are getting more quality chances I though the UMass goalie did a nice job of keeping them in the game."

Corsair goaltender Nick Thayer (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished the game with 19 saves and 13 goals allowed in the losing effort. KSC freshman netminder Jack Rogers (Acton, Mass.) made eight saves in the win to improve to 2-2 on the season.

The Owls scored early and often in the game, jumping out to a 7-1 lead on an unassisted goal from KSC junior midfielder Ian Hart (Richmond, N.H.) at the 7:47 mark in the second quarter.

After UMass Dartmouth scored the last few goals of the first half, they stole the games momentum in the third quarter, as Corsair sophomore midfielder Justin Lawless (Quincy, Mass.) would net a goal with 10 seconds left in the third quarter, to cut the KSC lead to 9-7.

The Owls came out strong in the fourth quarter, as Schairer would net two of KSC's four goals, en route to the 13-8 road conference victory.

KSC senior midfielder David Shaw (Acton, Mass.) went 13-for-24 on the face-offs for the Owls, while his UMass Dartmouth counterpart Brad Bell (South Hadley, Mass.) went 11-for-24 in the loss.

Seniors Jonathan Rodrick (Plaistow, N.H.) and Sean LeBlanc (Simsbury, Conn.) led the Owls in groundballs with five apiece.

KSC outshot the Corsairs 48-28 and scooped up 34 groundballs to UMass Dartmouth's 26. Neither team fared well with the man advantage, the Owls finished 1-for-9, while UMD went 1-for-4.

Keene State returns to action Tuesday, as they will head to in-state and conference rival Plymouth State for a 4 p.m. contest.