KEENE, N.H. 9/14/13 – Freshman Kayla Renaud (Somers, Conn.) scored three goals, all in the first half, to lead the Keene State College field hockey team to a 6-0 shutout victory over Fitchburg State University in the Little East Conference opener for both teams at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

Opening the season with a 6-0 (1-0 LEC) record, the Owls match the 2009 team that also began their season by winning its first six games. Fitchburg falls to 1-2 (0-1 LEC).

Dominating play from the open whistle, Keene State netted five of its goals in the first half. Senior Katelyn Simula (Bridgewater, N.H.) began the scoring when she awarded a penalty stroke at the 15:31 mark.  Simulate went top shelf for her third goal of the season.  "Whenever I take a stroke, I try to go either to the right or left corner and I put it exactly where I wanted it to go," she said.

Renaud took over from there, scoring three quick goals in a span of three minutes.  After putting in her own rebound to make it 2-0, she was at the right place at the time, scoring on a ball that deflected right to her off the pads of Fitchburg junior goalie Lucy Holewa (Londonderry, N.H.).  Renaud completed her natural hat trick on a picture-perfect corner play that put the Owls up 4-0.  "I always try to have my stick down and be ready. You never know when the ball is going to come to you," said Renaud, who now has four goals this season.  "It feels awesome. I had a tough time scoring in our first couple of games and now it's becoming a lot easier."    

Sophomore Lyndsie Rabenius (North Hampton, N.H.) scored her sixth goal of the season on KSC's second penalty stroke of the half to give the Owls a 5-0 lead at the half.

Sophomore Paige Tuttle's (Goffstown, N.H.) first career goal in the second half rounded out the scoring for the Owls, who outshot Fitchburg 45-2 and had an 11-1 advantage in corner opportunities.

Both teams had defensive saves in the game.  Senior Kelly Finn (Fitchburg, Mass.) stopped a shot by junior Lauren Villanova (Woodbury, Conn.) early in the first half and KSC freshman Morgan McMinn (Southbury, Conn.) stopped a bid by sophomore Julia Gimenez (Framingham, Mass.) late in the game. 

Sophomores Chloe Audesse (Goffstown, N.H.) and Meaghan Dwyer (Rutland, Mass.) each played a half in goal for the Owls with no saves recorded.

Holewa made 14 first half saves for the Falcons, before giving way to sophomore Judith Valentine (Brockton, Mass.), who stopped six shots in the second half.

Keene State is off until next Saturday when it hosts Bridgewater State in a rematch of last year's LEC tournament semifinal game.