NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Smith College was on the board just over three minutes in and never looked back while handing the Keene State College field hockey team a 4-1 loss on Wednesday night in non-conference action at the Smith Turf Field.

Records

• Keene State:  14-5
• Smith:  10-7

How It Happened

In what turned out to be a light-shooting first half, the initial chance for either side in the contest resulted in a goal, as Smith's Anna Ballou fed Neva Richardson, who put the Pioneers ahead 1-0 at the 3:11 mark.  There was not much action in the ensuing ten minutes before Keene State found their first real offensive opportunities in the 15th minute.  However, Kayla Klein was denied on two quick-fire attempts by Smith goalie Channy Cornell, and Cornell stopped Ally McCall at the 17:09 mark.  The Pioneers added a tally with under ten minutes remaining in the half, as Ballou assisted again, this time on Maura McGowan's goal in the 28th minute.  Cornell made one more stop on Julia Babbitt with two minutes remaining as Smith took a 2-0 lead into the break despite being outshot 4-3.

The Owls appeared to be right back in the game when McCall scored unassisted just 3:40 into the second stanza, but the Pioneers had a quick answer, as Abby Morton restored the two-goal advantage (3-1) at 43:34.  Morton marked the third different Smith player to score her first goal of the season in the contest.  After KSC relief goalkeeper Jordan LaRaus made a trio of stops over the next six minutes, KSC looked to trim the deficit, but saw Courtney Jessup's shot denied by Cornell and Raegan Stokes clear McCall's shot off the line in the 54th minute.  The Pioneers put the game away with just under six minutes remaining, as leading scorer Sammie Pavlov fed Stokes for a 4-1 lead.  Keene State wound up generating one shot, which was denied by Cornell, in the final 16 minutes.

Rachel Loseby (13-5) played the first half in the KSC cage, making five stops.  LaRaus came in after halftime and made six.  Cornell stopped seven of eight shots for Smith, improving to 10-7.

Penalty Strokes

• Smith outshot Keene State 15-10 (11-9 on goal), including 12-6 in the second half, and had a slim 7-6 edge in penalty corners.
• It was just the Owls' third loss in 14 all-time meetings against the Pioneers.
• Keene State finishes their regular season non-conference slate at 4-4 with three losses to nationally ranked teams.

Up Next

• Keene State closes the regular season with a key Little East Conference matchup against Castleton University.  The game, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 27 at 1:30 pm, will determine the LEC regular season champion and top seed in the conference tournament.  Stay tuned to keeneowls.com for any weather-related scheduling updates.
• Smith hosts Clark University in their NEWMAC finale on the same day at 2:00 pm.