SALEM, Mass. –
Grace Taylor scored her first collegiate goal last Saturday and just days later did one better, scoring twice as the Keene State College field hockey team rolled past Salem State University 4-2 in a Little East Conference contest at Alumni Field on Wednesday night.
Records
- Keene State: 5-8, 5-1 LEC
- Salem State: 5-5, 3-3 LEC
How It Happened
Making her sixth consecutive start this evening, the Owl freshman from Goffstown, N.H. has become a factor offensively, recording a point in four of the past five games and eight in the last two, both KSC wins. She had a goal and two helpers last Saturday in a 9-0 rout of Bridgewater State University, and did not slow down tonight, getting her team off on the right foot immediately, scoring just 9:02 in for a 1-0 lead. Keene State was all over the Vikings right away, getting four corner chances in the first four minutes while also forcing SSU goalkeeper Kelli McCarthy to make a pair of saves, including on Taylor's initial try before her goal. Salem State was limited to just one shot in the opening 15 minutes, though it did go in as Allison Couillard scored with just five seconds left in the quarter to tie the game.
The 1-1 stalemate lasted all of three minutes, as
Chase Lambert found
Irini Stefanakos for her 12th goal of the season to put Keene State in front again, where they remained for the remainder of the contest. The Owls maintained the one-goal lead into halftime, outshooting the Vikings 15-3 in the first half. McCarthy did all she could to keeper her team within striking distance, stopping 11 KSC shots in the opening 30 minutes, but the Owls ran away on the scoreboard with two goals in 2:57 late in the third quarter, a period in which Salem was held without a shot. Taylor again hung around the cage to bury a rebound, putting home
Ellie Hunkins' initial try for a 3-1 edge in the 40th minute before
Maggie Cahoon inserted a corner and then scored less than 10 seconds later for a 4-1 lead at the 42:26 mark.
Keene State goalkeeper
Molly Edmark (5-8) got the win and did not have to make any stops in 30 minutes of action.
Victoria Watson played the second half and made seven saves, all in the fourth quarter where KSC was outshot 8-0 after holding a 21-3 edge in that category entering the final 15 minutes. McCarthy (5-5) took the loss and was peppered all evening, though remarkably her 15 stops are just the third-highest total of the season, as she made 24 against Endicott College in a 5-1 loss on September 22 and 16 in a 5-0 loss to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on September 9.
Penalty Strokes
- Stefanakos, the reigning Little East Conference Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, has now scored in five consecutive games. She has six goals in that span and 12 for the season to go along with seven assists.
- Keene State's win coupled with the University of Southern Maine's 3-2 loss at Worcester State University leaves the Owls alone in first place in the Little East Conference with a 5-1 league mark, one game better than Eastern Connecticut State University (3-1), Plymouth State University (4-2) and Southern Maine (4-2). The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament in early November.
Up Next
- The Owls visit 6th-ranked Babson College (9-1, 3-0 NEWMAC), playing a road game against the Beavers for the first time after two previous at home, on Sunday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. The contest will be Babson's third in four days.
- Salem State travels to Bridgewater State on Saturday (October 9) for a 4:00 p.m. start.
