Box Score LEWISTON, Maine -- The Keene State College men's lacrosse team held a 6-3 lead after one quarter, but was unable to hold on to their lead as Bates outscored the Owls 9-4 in the second half en route to a 16-11 victory in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament Wednesday night.
It was Bates' first ever NCAA tournament game, and the first playoff game hosted by any Bates team on 116-year-old Garcelon Field that held a crowd well over 1,000.
The Little East Conference champion Owls finish the year with a 12-5 record in their sixth NCAA tournament appearance, and their second in a row.
Tyler McKelvie scored a game-high five goals to go with one assist for KSC, and Hunter Arnold tallied four scores. Ryan Hart added a goal and two assists as well as five ground balls. Goalie Dylan Florian made 11 saves, as Bates outshot KSC by a 46-35 margin, ioncluding a 27-17 difference in shots on goal. McKelvie recorded his 200th career point on his second goal of the game with 11:56 left in the first quarter.
Charlie Fay scored four goals for the Bobcats (11-5), while Jack Strain and Jack Allard added three apiece. Bates ties its team record for victories in a season with the 1984, 1985 and 1986 teams. Conor Henrie contributed two goals and an assist for Bates. Jake Walsh dished out a game-high three assists and Andrew Melvin added a goal and two assists.
The Owls jumped out to a 4-1 first-quarter lead with McKelvie supplying two goals and an assist. Bates' Kyle Weber scored on Henrie's assist to close it to 4-2, but the Owls responded with their first of two man-down goals, with Ryan Askham assisting Arnold for a 5-2 lead. McKelvie tallied again with 4:50 to go for a 6-2 Keene State lead, quieting the Bates crowd.
Keene State's second penalty of the game occurred on the ensuing faceoff, and the Bobcats capitalized with Fay's second score of the game, on Walsh's first assist, closing the deficit to 6-3 at the end of one period.
Bates made it a 5-0 run in the second quarter to assume its first lead, at 7-6, before Kevin Carey evened the game 7-7 at intermission with an unassisted tally.
The Owls scored the first two goals of the third quarter for a 3-0 run and a 9-7 lead. Despite opening the quarter a man down, Keene forced a Bates turnover and Arnold scored the Owls' second man-down goal, assisted by Ryan Hart. Arnold tallied again with 10:08 to go from Frank Bacarella's assist.
The game of runs continued, as the Bobcats closed out the third quarter with four goals in a row, including two extra-man goals. Melvin fed Fay and Allard back-to-back to tie the game at 9-9, and Strain scored the go-ahead goal unassisted wiht 2:34 to go in the period. With 48 seconds left, Fay added his fourth score on Walsh's third assist, Bates' fourth man-up goal of the contest.
The Bobcats then earned a man-down goal of their own 2:20 into the final period, as Henrie collected a loose ball in front of midfield line, then found an open alley on the left for a 12-9 lead.
Arnold fed McKelvie for the Owls' first goal in 16 minutes of game time to close the gap to 12-10, but the Bobcats answered with three straight, completing a decisive 8-1 run that opened up a 15-10 lead. Charlie Hildebrand's pass over Keene's goal to an open Reed Lewallen kicked off the final streak that stemmed any thoughts of a Keene comeback.
The Bobcats advance to face a familiar foe in the second round in NESCAC rival Tufts. The Bobcats shocked the defending NCAA champion Jumbos on April 7 by a 12-8 score, ending Tufts' 24-game winning streak. Saturday's game is expected to be played at Tufts' Bello Field, with game time to be announced.
(Recap courtesy of Bates Sports Information)
