CASTLETON, Vt. – The Little East Conference's second leading scorer Emily Harris scored her 29th goal of the season with 5:32 remaining in regulation and Castleton University went on to finish off an important 3-2 league victory over the Keene State College field hockey team at Dave Wolk Stadium Tuesday night.  The Owls, with help of tiebreakers, entered the night with essentially the No. 2 seed and still a shot at the league's top overall seed.  Now, KSC does not have a shot at the top seed anymore and, including tiebreaker disadvantages, sits with the No. 6 seed entering the league's final day of action Saturday.

Records

• Keene State:  9-9, 8-3 LEC
• Castleton:  10-7, 8-3 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls never led in the game, but answered the Spartans' first two goals so quickly it probably never felt like they trailed much either.  However, Harris – who has scored in 10 consecutive games and multiple times in six of those – scored what proved to be the game-winning goal late after getting around an aggressive Clara Gorman who had come out of the KSC cage and firing into the open cage, and her team held the Owls shotless after the tally as Keene State was dealt a damaging loss by a team they had defeated 9-2 in Keene one season ago.  KSC, who won last year's regular season title, will now need a win Saturday over Westfield State University and help to have a conference tournament game of any kind at home when the postseason begins in one week.  The Owls were coming off an entertaining 4-2 home victory over the University of Southern Maine this past Saturday that put them back in contention for the top spot, but the Huskies today clinched the regular season title and No. 1 seed by beating Plymouth State in overtime.  KSC, meanwhile, has dropped four of their last five on the road,  including Fitchburg State University and Worcester State University beyond tonight, which aided in the undesired tiebreaker results.

Castleton struck first just 9:06 into the game when, after Gorman made five saves in the opening six minutes, Haley Lassen cleaned up a bouncing ball by the right post and slotted it into the back of the cage just 11 seconds into their third corner opportunity of the opening moments.  KSC answered almost immediately through an unsurprising source, as Irini Stefanakos hit home a feed from Demetria Gonzalez to score for the fourth time in her past five games to even the game at one just 29 seconds after the Spartans' opening goal.  What seemed like might turn into an offensive game did not, as neither team scored over the next 27 minutes to keep it a 1-1 tie at the break.  Castleton had a 14-4 edge in shots and a whopping 10-2 in corners – the second straight contest KSC wound up being thoroughly out-cornered – in the opening half, but remained stuck at just the one goal as Gorman recorded 10 saves.  Castleton keeper Zoe Martin's lone save of the opening 30 minutes came in the 29th minute when she stopped Molly Murray to keep it 1-1.

The teams traded tallies in the third to send it to the fourth still tied.  Castleton retook the lead just 6:09 into the second half when, after Gorman made an initial stop, of Kaitlin Bardellini, she got the ball back and passed it back in for Peyton Richardson, who deflected it perfectly into the cage for a 2-1 edge for the home team.  However, much like before, their lead did not last long – this time barely over four minutes.  Keene State tied the game in the 41st minute when, on a scramble in front after Martin tried kicking the ball away, Stefanakos wound up with the ball in front, dribbled a pass past her and to the waiting stick of Hunkins, who was there to polish it off to tie it 2-2.

There were only four shots total (two for each team) in the final quarter, but one of the four provided what ended up being the game-deciding goal.  Gorman stopped Bardellini in the 47th minute before Martin kept out shots by Maggie Cahoon and Hunkins in the ensuing minutes, the latter of which came 55 seconds before Castleton took their third one-goal lead of the night.  What seemed like a harmless restart after the ball went out of bounds quickly turned into trouble for KSC, as a pass in to Harris – who was even with three Owls 10 yards out from the goal – actually sprung her free and in on Gorman.  The Owls' goalkeeper came out to contest and, using a burst of speed, Harris got the ball around her and in the clear with a shot at the cage, which she buried for a 3-2 lead with 5:32 left.  This time, Keene State had no response – and no significant chances – after Castleton's tally.  They had answered the first time in 29 seconds and the second time in 4:09, but the Spartans were able to hang on for the final moments this time.

Gorman (8-8) made 13 saves in the loss while Martin improved to 9-5 with a five-save effort.

Penalty Strokes

• Castleton had a wide 21-9 advantage in shots (16-7 on goal), including 14-4 in the opening half and 19-7 through three quarters.
• KSC lost to the Spartans for the third time in 16 all-time meetings.  The Owls had won the last three by a combined 14-3 score.
• Stefanakos has recorded a goal and an assist in four of her last five games, totaling seven goals and seven helpers.

Up Next

• The Owls will honor their seniors and close the season at home against Westfield State (10-7, 7-4 LEC) on Saturday, October 29 at 1:30 p.m.  As mentioned, KSC will need a win and help in order to host a home quarterfinal game.  However, if the same four-way tie between Plymouth State, Fitchburg State, Castleton, and Keene State exists after Saturday, the Owls will be the No. 6 seed.  A loss could drop KSC to seventh depending on results.  Plymouth State hosts Western Connecticut Saturday, Fitchburg State visits Framingham State University on Friday night, and Castleton travels to Bridgewater State University (2-14, 1-10 LEC) on Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m.).  Framingham locked up the No. 8 seed with a 2-0 victory at Eastern Connecticut State University today, while the other two listed opponents are eliminated and have a combined 3-18 league record.