KEENE, N.H. 11/5/13 –Senior captain Aimee Donaruma (Hampden, Mass.) scored two goals and a swarming Owl defense limited the Lancers to just one shot as top seed Keene State College shutout eighth seed Worcester State 4-0 in a Little East Conference quarterfinal tournament game played at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.

Keene State (18-3), which extended its winning streak to six games, advances to the semifinals where they will face fourth seed UMass-Dartmouth.  The Corsairs moved on to the semifinals with a 2-0 shutout win over fifth seed Southern Maine. The KSC-UMD semifinal game will be at Owl Athletic Complex on Thursday (6 p.m.).  The game is a rematch on last year's LEC final won by UMass-Dartmouth 1-0.  

Earlier in the day, third seed Plymouth State defeated sixth seed Salem State 4-2. The Panthers will play second seed Bridgewater State in the second semifinal contest.  Bridgewater rolled to a 5-2 win over seventh seed Westfield State.

A persistent Owl offense kept the pressure on the Lancers from the opening whistle.  Keene State finally broke through at the 13:53 mark of the first half.  After misfiring on several corners, sophomore Lyndise Rabenius (North Hampton, N.H.) threaded a pass to a wide open Donaruma on the right side who drove the ball into the net.

Keene Stated added to its lead five minutes later when Donaruma converted a nice centering pass from classmate Leddy Gallagher (Acton, Mass.). It was Gallagher's team-leading 13th assist of the season. "Lyndsie gave me a real good pass then Leddy game me another good one.  I was just in the right place at the right time and just put them in," said Donaruma, who upped her goal total to five on the season. "Every goal is important we can't rest on any lead." 

It remained a two goal game into the second half thanks to the work by a Worcester State's defense that was bombarded by 31 Owl shots.  Sophomore defender Amanda Carpenter (Lunenburg, Mass.) made a key interception of a pass ticketed for KSC sophomore Haylie Dolan (West Brookfield, Mass.). Minutes later, Lancer senior goalie Allison Romano (East Bridgewater, Mass.) kicked out shots by Dolan and freshman Sami Smith (Merrimack, N.H.). "Worcester State played some great defense," said KSC Coach Amy Watson.  "We were putting the pressure on them and we had a hard time getting one in the net.  Fortunately, Aimee came up big for us in the first half."

The Lancers' bend-but-not-break defense finally let up two more goals late in the second half.  Taking a lead pass from Dolan, freshman Kayla Renaud (Somers, Conn.)  scored her 13th goal of the season with a quick backhand shot to make it 3-0. 

Keene State final goal with five minutes to play came on a nice transition play. Racing down the field, Renuad passed to a streaking senior Julia Forgione (Windham, .N.H.) who fed junior Marisa Lemoine (Berlin, N.H.) who deflected the ball into the net for her 12th goal of the season.

Keene State sophomore goalie Meaghan Dwyer (Rutland, Mass.) didn't register a save on the way to her first shutout of the season. 

Romano finished the game with 11 saves for Worcester State which concludes its season with an 11-8 record.

Keene State will now get set for Thursday's semifinal tussle with the Corsairs (14-6).  The Owls defeated UMD 3-2 to capture the LEC regular season title last Saturday.  "It should be another good game," said Watson.  "We match-up well with them.  We just need to get it done on the field."