Box Score KEENE, N.H. - The Keene State men's lacrosse team could not overcome a second quarter which they were outscored 6-1 in their 17-11 loss to Bates College Wednesday evening at Owl Stadium.
The Owls (3-4) were ranked 10th in this week's New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III poll, while the Bobcats (4-3) had dropped out of the rankings after being tied for 10th last week.
Rob Hart led the Owls with three goals and one assist, while Hunter Arnold and Tyler McKelvie added two scores apiece.
The Bobcats were led by Jack Allard's career high seven goals and a career-high six assists by Andrew Melvin.
Bates senior Reid Lewallen got the scoring started with 10:48 left in the first quarter, on Melvin's first assist of the day. McKelvie tied it up at 1-1, but the visitors countered back at 3:55. After Hart tied it up again at 2-2 on a Kevin Carey assist with 1:53 to go in the first, Allard scored with 14 seconds left in the opening stanza for a 3-2 lead.
The Bobcats never looked back from there, thanks to an explosive second quarter that saw their lead expand to 9-3 at the break. James Dowd collected the ground ball off the faceoff and scored unassited for the Owls lone goal of the second quarter.
The Owls outscored the Bobcats 4-3 in the third quarter to shorten the lead to five (12-7), and Rob Hart scored on a Ryan Hart assist 17 seconds into the fourth quarter to narrow the gap to 12-8. Weber fed Fay to regain the five-goal advantage with 13:38 left, but Rob Hart tallied again at 10:31, closing the gap to 13-9.
Bates then put the game away for good with four straight goals, beginning with Allard's sixth tally on a Chen assist at 9:17 and his seventh at the 7:00, assisted by Weber. Strain scored Bates' lone man-up goal with 6:57 to go, and the Bobcats opened up a 17-9 lead with 5:18 left. Ryan Hart and Reilly scored the last two goals of the game of the Owls at 3:48 and 1:45, respectively.
Dylan Florian made stops for KSC, while Joe Faria registered 15 saves or the Bobcats.
The Owls host UMass Dartmouth in the conference opener for both teams Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
