Box Score GORHAM, Maine – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team went from down three goals to up three goals in a span of less than 11 second half minutes en route to a come-from-behind 11-9 victory over the University of Southern Maine in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
Records
- Keene State: 4-2, 4-1 LEC
- Southern Maine: 3-2, 2-2 LEC
How It Happened
After starting the season with back-to-back defeats, the Owls have turned things around noticeably, winning their past four games by a combined score of 67-25. They are 4-1 in league play, tied for second place with Plymouth State University and one game behind Western Connecticut State University (5-0, 5-0 LEC). The Colonials shut down Plymouth 9-4 this afternoon in Danbury, Conn. It was the usual suspects powering KSC's offense against USM, with
Haile Ratajack leading the way with four goals and three assists. She also picked up five ground balls and had four draw controls.
Ali Daisy,
Brigid Casey, and
Mindy St. Marie each scored twice. Casey also added six draw controls.
Casey began the game-changing surge with a goal off a feed from Daisy that cut the deficit to 8-6 with 24:46 left, and KSC tied the game less than three minutes later after tallies from
Brooke Ellis and St. Marie. That was only the beginning, as Ratajack's fourth goal of the day put the Owls in front for the first time since it was 3-2 with 19:42 to go before St. Marie scored again to make it 10-8 minutes later. KSC's offensive leaders Ratajack and Casey – who have combined for 45 goals and 55 points on the season – connected with 14:01 to go, putting the Owls up 11-8. Keene State flipped an 8-5 deficit into a three-goal advantage in 10:45 of game action.
Southern Maine got one goal back when Rachel Shanks found the net for the third time on the day at the 10:38 mark, but the second half was all Keene State. After Alex Farley's goal with 28:21 left gave the Huskies an 8-5 edge, they were limited to just seven shots for the remainder of the game and were outshot 14-8 overall in the second half and 28-20 in the contest. KSC scored six of the eight second half goals. Despite her team being mostly shut down in the final 30 minutes, Shanks did try to keep her team in the game, generating three chances after cutting the deficit to 11-9, but one shot hit the post and the other two – both free-position chances – were stopped by Owl goalkeeper
Haley Terva, who made seven saves.
When USM went ahead by three goals just after the start of the second half, it was the first lead that large for either team in the contest, as the opening 30 minutes saw the teams exchange leads several times. KSC surrendered the opening goal but then scored three of the next four to lead 3-2 at the 16:30 mark of the first half. Southern Maine responded with the next three, saw the Owls tie it at five, but scored twice in the final 9:13, including one with 15 seconds left on the clock, to take a 7-5 lead at the break. They appeared to still be in control when they took a three-goal edge for the first time in less than two minutes after the break, but the lead was gone in less than seven minutes and their offense wound up being gone for most of the second half.
Terva won in net for the Owls, stopping seven of the 16 shots that came her way. She has a 9.83 goals against average on the season. Mariah Vaillancourt (3-2) saved 14 and allowed 11 goals, but it was not enough and she took the loss.
Inside the Crease
- KSC took 15 of 21 draw controls, including eight of nine in the second half.
- Keene State fell 16-13 in their last trip to Gorham in 2019, but has beaten USM in nine of the past 10 meetings and 23 of 30 all-time.
- Ratajack continues to be a goal-scoring machine for the Owls, scoring 37 goals in eight career games dating to last year. This year alone she has 28, scoring at least three in each contest. Ratajack would need 53 (25 more) to crack the top 10 on the Keene State single-season goal list – this in a shortened regular season with only eight games.
Up Next
- Keene State travels to Castleton University (2-6, 1-3 LEC) on Wednesday, April 21 for a 7:00 p.m. start. The Spartans had lost six in a row, all by at least 13 goals, before winning 13-9 at Rhode Island College today. Their only other victory is over Mitchell College.
- Southern Maine visits Plymouth State (4-1, 4-1 LEC) on Tuesday (April 20) at 4:00 p.m.
