Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Offcanvas Schedule

Events

Results

Keene State College

Scoreboard

KEENE STATE OWLS
Field Hockey Postgame 11.4.2021
2
Southern Maine USM (13-9, 9-3 LEC)
5
Winner Keene State KSC (12-10, 10-2 LEC)
Southern Maine USM
(13-9, 9-3 LEC)
2
Final
5
Keene State KSC
(12-10, 10-2 LEC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Southern Maine USM 1 0 0 1 2
Keene State KSC 2 1 2 0 5

Game Recap: Field Hockey | | Ryan Hearn, Sports Information Assistant

Stefanakos Hat Trick Helps Owls Punch Ticket to LEC Championship Game

KSC Pulls Away From Southern Maine 5-2, Will Aim For 15th League Title on Saturday

KEENE, N.H. – Freshman Irini Stefanakos moved within one goal of seeing her name appear in the top ten of the Keene State College field hockey single-season list as the Owl offense stayed hot in a comfortable 5-2 Little East Conference semifinal victory over the University of Southern Maine at Owl Athletic Complex Thursday night.

Records
  • Keene State:  12-10
  • Southern Maine:  13-9
How It Happened
Since a 2-1 regular season loss at USM two Saturdays ago, the Owls have found their offense, tallying 26 goals over the following four contests – all wins.  The outburst has helped move them from being in a battle for the league's top seed in the final week, with a chance to slide all the way to fifth, to one home win over No. 3 seed Eastern Connecticut State University away from their league-best 15th tournament title.  Stefanakos and Ellie Hunkins have spearheaded the attack, piling up 16 goals (eight apiece) in that span, and have now combined for 41 goals and 11 assists this season.  Four of those came tonight, including one from each in a 26-second span in the final minutes of the third quarter to expand a two-goal lead into a 5-1 game.  KSC had built a 3-1 halftime lead on Maggie Cahoon's 10th goal of the season with 2:42 to go in the second quarter, but the Huskies pressed in the third, outshooting the Owls 7-4 while having five of their seven corner chances in the game in that period.  Victoria Watson made a number of key stops in the Keene State cage that stretch, and finished it with none better than the final one on Hannah Banks that turned into a goal on the other side less than 15 seconds later.  Watson kicked the ball away and it eventually found Stefanakos, who danced around Hailee Lindelof and rushed up the left side with plenty of room in front of her.  She passed off to Grace Taylor in the circle, and Taylor then delayed for a second before sliding a perfect feed back to Stefanakos to make it 4-1.  It was the third time the pair connected on the evening and impressive movement and passing for two Owls that have combined for 19 assists on the season.  Keene State further deflated Southern Maine just 26 seconds later when Ellie Hunkins, who scored four goals in Tuesday night's 8-3 blowout of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, corralled a ball in the middle of the circle and beat Julianna Kiklis to her left side.  She has now scored in four consecutive contests.

The Huskies answered Stefanakos' early goal when Hannah Banks put home a centering feed that bounced around in front of Watson to make it 1-1, but much like happened later in the game, the Owls had a quick answer, going in front just 2:32 later after they pressured following a USM turnover and eventually got another Taylor to Stefanakos connection with 22 seconds left in the opening quarter.  Aside from their seven-shot third quarter, Southern Maine had just five shots in the other 45 minutes.  The Huskies gave the Owls the first nine corner opportunities of the game before recording five in a row of their own, all in the third, but came up empty when trying to trim their deficit to one and KSC's quick-strike offense removed most of the doubt from the outcome shortly thereafter.  Banks scored twice for the Huskies, including a penalty stroke with 52 seconds left.

Kiklis (12-9) stopped six of seven shots in Southern Maine's October 23 win over the Owls, but KSC slipped five of seven shots past her tonight.  Watson improved to 5-0 with a seven-save evening in 59:08.

Penalty Strokes
  • KSC is 10-3 when Stefanakos scores a goal in a game this season.  Tonight marked her second hat trick and sixth multi-goal game.  Her 52 points this season are eighth on the Keene State single-season list.  Stefanakos would need one more goal to appear on the single-season top 10 goals list, two to move into sixth.
  • The Owls have won 30 of 35 meetings overall against USM, 18 of 19 in Keene, and nine of 11 in the postseason.
Up Next
  • Much like tonight, Keene State will look to gain revenge for a regular season loss when they take on Eastern Connecticut in the LEC championship game on Saturday (November 6) at 1:00 p.m.  It will be the fourth postseason meeting between the teams, which includes a 2-1 KSC win in the 2015 title game.  The Warriors defeated Worcester State University in this year's other semifinal in Worcester, Mass. earlier this evening.
  • Southern Maine's season is over.  They played in 12 one-goal games this year (8-4 record) and finished 4-6 away from home.
Print Friendly Version