KEENE, N.H. – Sophomore forward Irini Stefanakos scored twice and assisted on three other goals as the Keene State College field hockey team scored four times within 22 second half minutes to break a halftime tie en route to a 5-2 victory over Framingham State University In Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon.  It was a Morgan's Message game at the Owl Athletic Complex for KSC, and the field hockey program wanted to help raise awareness regarding mental health – in the same week as World Mental Health Day – by recognizing an organization dedicated to eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health of student athletes by creating a community for and by athletes and is driven by expertise, resources, and experience.

Morgan's Message

Records

• Keene State:  7-7, 6-1 LEC
• Framingham State:  8-6, 4-5 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Watson)
Postgame Interview (Irini Stefanakos)

How It Happened
The Rams, who are looking to make the league postseason tournament for the first time in 13 years, struck first to put the Owls on their heels barely over five minutes in, but KSC ultimately found their offense, scoring twice in a minute early in the third to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead and then twice in 3:22 early in the fourth to turn what was a one-goal game into a 5-2 advantage.  Stefanakos was in the middle of everything all day, taking a team-high seven (of KSC's 23) shots while factoring into every goal Keene State scored.  She assisted on the first two and then scored the next two before wrapping up her afternoon with one more assist.  The seven-point single-game output is the highest of her career, surpassing a pair of six-point efforts against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and the University of Southern Maine last year. 

Framingham State got on the board first as they forced a KSC turnover near midfield and passed over to the left before Corlene Guenard eventually danced around a defender and fired a ball into the middle that Gorman kicked away, which Natalia Roehr then corralled and slid into the back of the net in the fifth minute.  That marker came after Rams' goalkeeper Kaitlin Loughlin had already made three stops in the opening five minutes as KSC had the game's first five shots.

As was the case after both of Framingham's goals, the Owls did not wait long to respond, as just over five minutes later, after KSC had killed off a Rams corner, they got one of their own and capitalized.  Chase Lambert inserted the ball to Paula Vasiliadis, who drew a defender and passed to Stefanakos, whose blast was intentionally designed to go to Lambert, who tapped it home past Loughlin, who had no shot at a save.  The Owls outshot Framingham 10-3 in the opening quarter, with Loughlin stopping even others to preserve a 1-1 game despite her team being outplayed.

It remained 1-1 into halftime as Framingham leveled the playing field by outshooting KSC 6-2 in the second 15 minutes.  KSC goalkeeper Clara Gorman made a pair of saves on quick-fire chances from Guenard in the 23rd minute and Lauren Hausser cleared a ball away for a defensive save in the same sequence.  Kalina Piasecki's shot after an Owls' corner with a little over two minutes to go in the half was stopped by Loughlin.

The scoring was fast and furious in the second half, with two goals in one minute giving the Owls a 3-1 advantage early in the third quarter.  First, Stefanakos burst through three or four different Rams and worked her way up the middle and into the circle before passing off to Julia Baer, who rifled a shot into the back of the cage for a 2-1 lead – KSC's first of the game – at the 35:12 mark.  Then, after the Owls gave the Rams all kinds of trouble trying to clear before eventually earning a corner, Hausser passed to Stefanakos waiting right by the post that she has just began the play near.  Loughlin stopped the Owl offensive leader's initial try, but the ball came right back to her and she flicked the ball well over the FSU keeper and into the top part of the cage on the rebound for a two-goal advantage with 8:52 to go in the third.

Down two, Framingham answered barely over six minutes later when, after starting a corner, Brandi Core gathered a ball in front that Isabella Kondi sent in and made it 3-2 with 3:25 left in the quarter.  KSC defender Hailey Patridge was in the vicinity and the ball hit her stick, but had too much velocity for her to clear it and Core cashed in.  The Rams had a shot to tie with a little over a minute left in the third after another penalty corner, but Guenard's shot was wide, and then forced Gorman to make a stop less than three minutes into the fourth.

KSC put the game away by scoring twice in less than five minutes shortly thereafter, with Stefanakos waiting by the post after starting a corner to tip home a shovel pass from Demetria Gonzalez with 11:08 to go to make it a 4-2 game, restoring a two-goal lead.  The Owls went up three after, following a rush, Stefanakos danced and passed around Framingham defenders, she found Clara Hunkins right near where she had just scored herself to make it 5-2 with 7:41 to go.  Gorman (6-6) made a pair of saves in the final six minutes to prevent the finish from becoming interesting, and had eight saves in the win.
Loughlin stopped ten for Framingham in the losing effort, falling to 5-4.

Penalty Strokes

• The Owls are 15-5 over the past two seasons when Stefanakos scores a goal.
• KSC has beaten the Rams 13 consecutive times and has never lost to them at home (14-0).  FSU had been outscored 34-3 in the last five visits, with all three goals coming in 2015 when they allowed 11.
• Keene State currently sits in second place in the conference, one game behind (even in the loss column) with Southern Maine, but also just a half game up on fifth place.  The Owls still have to play the current first, fifth, sixth, and tied for seventh teams in their remaining league slate after a matchup Monday with struggling University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

Up Next

• As mentioned, KSC travels to face UMD (2-10, 0-7 LEC) in a resecheduled contest on Monday (October 17) at 4:00 p.m.  The Corsairs lost 10-0 at Southern Maine today and have four league losses by eight goals or more.
• Framingham hosts Westfield State (8-6, 5-3 LEC) on Wednesday, October 19 for a 7:00 p.m. start.