MANSFIELD, Conn. – Sophomore forward Sami Smith broke a scoreless tie 46 seconds into the second half and senior back Melissa Habelow later added an insurance goal to carry the defending Little East Conference champion Keene State College field hockey team to its 20thstraight conference regular-season victory, 3-1, over Eastern Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
The conference's only unbeaten team, Keene (12-4, 8-0 Little East) had finished off a 5-2 non-conference victory over Castleton State College Friday night, playing the final three minutes, and handed Eastern (6-8, 3-5 LEC) its fifth straight overall loss. The Owls completed a perfect 11-0 LEC regular season last year en route to the conference playoff title.
Eastern entered play in a five-way tie for fifth place and finishes the day sharing sixth place. The top eight teams in the final standings qualify for the LEC playoffs, which get underway Nov. 4
Looking for its first victory over Keene since 2001, Eastern played the visitors to a stalemate through the first half, and all of the game's scoring came in a span of 15 minutes in the second half. Smith broke the ice with her seventh goal of the year less than a minute into the second half, and team scoring leader Marisa Lemoine (Berlin, NH) , a senior forward, made it 2-0 nine minutes later with her ninth goal of the year.
Eastern cut the deficit in half just 21 seconds later on sophomore forward MaryKate Custer's fifth goal of the year, but Habelow's seventh goal of the season allowed Keene to regain its two-goal advantage.
Neither team scored over the final 19 minutes, with Eastern sophomore Samantha Scavo and Keene junior Meaghan Dwyer both finishing with seven saves.
Keene had two good chances to break the first-half tie, but Scavo came up with a bit save to keep it scoreless with 11 minutes left. The Warriors collected three of their four first-half penalty corners in succession, threatening unsuccessfully on one.
Keene was given four penalty corners in a row late in the match but could not add to its lead.
Eastern visits Western Connecticut State University Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a Little East Conference match.
(Recap courtesy of Eastern Conn. Athletics)
