KEENE, N.H. – No. 3 seed Eastern Connecticut State University scored an early goal 6:21 into Saturday afternoon's Little East Conference championship game at Owl Athletic Complex, and that proved to be enough despite the top-seeded Keene State College field hockey team having a three-player advantage at one point in the second half, as the Warriors claimed their first league tournament title with a 1-0 victory over the Owls.
Records
- Keene State: 12-11
- Eastern Connecticut: 14-5
How It Happened
Making their 20th appearance in the LEC tournament championship game and bidding for their league-best 15th title, Keene State was not without chances. The Owls outshot ECSU 10-1 in the second half and had an 18-4 edge in penalty corners overall, but struggled to get them on target as they saw their four-game winning streak overall and seven-game home winning streak both end. Despite maintaining possession for the vast majority of time in the opening half, KSC managed just one shot that was blocked, including none in the second quarter. They were already trailing 1-0 at that point after, in the seventh minute following a corner, Leah Kowalasky danced around aggressive Owl defenders and fired a ball into the middle looking for a tip. Keene State goalkeeper
Victoria Watson came far out to deny that play and kick the ball away, but instead it found Isabel Sanchez, who spun away from Watson and whipped it into the back of the cage for a 1-0 lead. The Warriors actually had a chance to double their lead barely over 30 seconds later, but Watson stopped a shot from Brianna Nolan before Sydney Collentine's was wide. Nolan was denied again in the final minutes of the first quarter to keep it 1-0.
After recording four shots in the opening 15 minutes, Eastern managed just one over the final 45 minutes as the Owls dominated possession on the attack, but never could break through, landing just three shots on ECSU goalkeeper Sarah Gallagher. The Owls had a golden opportunity just minutes out of the halftime locker room with well over two minutes worth of time with a three-player advantage following green cards on Bryce Makula and Sanchez and a five minute yellow card on Liz LaMarco, but did not get any shots on the ECSU cage in that span and surrendered two corners that the Warriors had to take with just four players. KSC cleared those without much of a problem to keep it a 1-0 game, and Watson made a stop on Kaylee Drobish in the 43rd minute – the Warriors' lone shot of the second half – but continued to have trouble getting shots through, as tries by
Ellie Hunkins and
Irini Stefanakos were blocked in the 37th and 40th minutes, respectively.
Still down a goal, the fourth quarter saw Keene State continuing to search for the tying goal, but it never came despite taking all six shots and all seven corners of the period, including three in the opening 1:51. Gallagher prevented
Demetria Gonzalez from finishing off
Hailey Patridge's initial blast off a corner chance and then helped deny Hunkins with 4:28 to go after Eastern's turnover right outside the circle.
Hannah Wood made a nice pass to
Maggie Cahoon in front following
Emily White's corner insertion with 2:25 to go, but Gallagher and the Warrior defense that included the tournament's Most Outstanding Player Makula kept that one out also, and then did not allow KSC into the circle again.
Watson (5-1) made three saves in the loss (two in the first quarter), while her counterpart Gallagher also stopped three to improve to 12-5.
Penalty Strokes
- The Owls took their fewest shots in a game (11) since September 30 when they put 10 on Smith College. KSC was 1-10 when attempting 15 or fewer shots this year with the lone win coming against Worcester State University on October 20.
- KSC had won 23 of 25 meetings against Eastern prior to this calendar year, but went 0-3 against them in 2021 with two overtime losses in Connecticut prior to today. This was the fourth postseason meeting between the teams. The Owls had won the first three by a combined 8-3 score.
- Stefenakos (21-10-52) and Hunkins (20-1-41) conclude the season with a combined 41 goals and 11 assists for 93 points.
Up Next
- KSC's season is over. They won 11 of 14 after a 1-7 start before coming up short today and will look to build on a young foundation next year. They will graduate at most one player.
- Eastern Connecticut will await their NCAA tournament matchup, with pairings scheduled to come out later Sunday night. They did not allow a goal in three LEC tournament games, avenging regular season losses to Plymouth State University and Worcester State in the first two rounds.
