KEENE, N.H. - The Keene State College men's lacrosse team won their third straight LEC game of the season, beating Eastern Connecticut 19-3 at the Owl Athletic Complex on Wednesday.

Records

• Keene State: 4-5 (3-0 LEC)
• Eastern Connecticut: 3-5 (1-1 LEC)

How It Happened 

Keene State pitched a shutout in the first half of Wednesday afternoon's contest, to propel them to a big win over ECSU. Dave Wiedenfeld got the scoring started for the Owls just 90 seconds in when he blasted one past the Warriors netminder for the 1-0 lead. Freshman Shane Molloy followed up with an unassisted goal of his own, before JJ Downey got on the board with a great finish off a Connor Nolan pass. Joe Nutting became the fourth Owl to score, when he tallied a goal off a Wiedenfeld helper. Jordan Caito then scored a goal of his own by way of an Anthony Marcella pass to give KSC a 5-0 lead after one quarter.

The second quarter was low scoring, as KSC dominated posession keeping the ball in the Warriors half of the field throughout. Wiedenfeld scored his second of the day off a Marcella pass on a man-up chance, before John Morgan became the sixth Owl to get on the scoresheet with a goal. Wiedenfeld then finished off his first half hat-trick when he fired one in at the 8:27 mark off another Marcella pass. Keene State held a commanding 8-0 lead heading into half time.

The Owls continued their dominance in the third quarter, scoring the first five goals. Nutting scored his second of the day off a Wiedenfeld assist, before Shane Molloy quickly followed suit with a goal off a feed from Nutting. Nutting then grabbed his hat-trick when he fired in a chance off a pass from John Morgan. Dave Wiedenfeld then put away his fourth and fifth goals of the game unassisted, less than a minute apart to give the hosts a 13-0 advantage. Eastern Connecticut finally got on the board when Matthew Rougeot found the net off a pass from Jacob Testa. The third quarter ended with back to back goals from Jordan Caito coming off assists from Marcella and Liam Flanagan.

KSC kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter, when John Morgan and Justin Norris scored goals less then 30 seconds apart to give the Owls a 17-1 advantage. The Warriors grabbed one back, when Jake Liebowitz scored an unassisted goal.With 3:23 to go, Alec Dawson blasted one past the goalkeeper for his first goal of the night. ECSU answered with one more, as Rougeot scored his second before Max Thurston became the ninth and final Owl to score, giving the hosts a 19-3 LEC victory.

Inside the Crease 

• Dave Wiedenfeld led all scorers with five goals and two assists. Joe Nutting had three goals and an assist, Caito had a hat-trick and Marcella finished with four assists.
• Matthew Rougeot led the Warriors with two goals, Jake Liebowitz picked up the other tally for the visitors.
• KSC used three goalkeepers, as Chase Chamberlin picked up the win with five saves. Alex Fawcett and Will Kane also picked up two saves each. Jack Farrell had 12 saves in the loss, John Funk also finished with five saves for ECSU.
• Paxton Blanchard led KSC with three caused turnovers. Charles Molloy IV and Nutting finished with seven ground balls each.
• KSC finished 20-26 from the face-off circle. The hosts outshot the Warriors 54-27.

Up Next 

• Keene State travels to Salem State on Saturday, April 6 for a 1:00 p.m. start.
• ECSU travels to Castleton, on Saturday April 6 for a 6:30 p.m. start.