KEENE, N.H. – One might have wondered what was in store for the Keene State College field hockey team when Plymouth State University's leading scorer Taylor Healey scored only 2:55 into a Little East Conference tournament quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday night to give her team a quick lead.  Well, what was in store after that for the Owls was nothing but good things – a tying goal not even three minutes later and four unanswered tallies overall as KSC ultimately cruised to a 4-1 win at Owl Athletic Complex, scoring three times in less than 13 minutes spanning the second and third quarters to produce the final margin that was never threatened.

Records

• Keene State:  11-9
• Plymouth State:  11-6

Postgame Interview (Coach Watson)
Postgame Interview (Molly Edmark)
Postgame Interview (Maggie Cahoon)

How It Happened
In the regular season meeting between the two sides, it was a penalty stroke goal from Molly Murray that got KSC out to a 1-0 lead just 6:26 in as they ultimately scored three times in the opening 22:47 and tacked on another in the 35th minute of what finished as a 4-1 win.  Tonight, it seemed as if the Owls flew off to another fast start, with Irini Stefanakos firing a ball into the back of the cage 50 seconds in after Plymouth goalkeeper Piper Sherbert had made an initial stop on a shot by Maggie Cahoon five seconds earlier, but the goal was disallowed.  The Panthers wound up being the team that scored first when Healey raced up the right side and gave her team a 1-0 lead in the third minute.  Allowing an early goal can sometimes change the entire complexion of the game, particularly as the higher seeded team in a playoff game, but KSC made sure that was not the case this time, as Stefanakos scored – this time it counted – when she inserted a corner to Hannah Wood, and then wandered in and tipped home her point blast to tie the game at one at the 5:26 mark.  The teams traded chances over the remainder of the first quarter and early into the second as Sherbert stopped Ellie Hunkins in the eighth minute and Cahoon in the 18th minute before Owls keeper Molly Edmark, who found out she was starting late in warm-ups as Clara Gorman could not go, denied Healey at the 19:04 mark.  KSC then warded off two subsequent corners, and then took over from there, as Cahoon began what turned into a huge night by forcing a turnover by Jess Couture right outside the Owls' attacking circle and found Stefanakos, who sent a ball toward the cage that Ellie Hunkins swept home for a 2-1 edge.  Cahoon then scored herself when Sherbert made a save on Stefanakos, but kicked the ball to Hunkins on the right side, who then executed a perfect centering feed that went past Sherbert and to the Owls' senior captain, who tapped it home to make it 3-1 with 2:58 left in the half.  Keene State carried that lead, and momentum, into the locker room.

Plymouth State had the first opportunities early in the third, desperately in need of a goal to make it interesting, but Edmark stopped Healey again just 1:45 in and Athena Comeau's shot 17 seconds later was wide.  KSC tacked on another to make it 4-1 less than three minutes later and only 4:13 into the half when Hunkins intentionally passed a ball into the left corner for Stefanakos to run on to.  She did, and fired into the circle, where a waiting Cahoon corralled her pass despite a small deflection from Julia Baer and beat new PSU keeper Kayla Antonucci – who started and took the loss in the regular season meeting – to her right side by the near post.  Cahoon's two goals came 7:11 apart and served to blow the game open, as the Owls were well on their way from there.  After her opening goal, Healey remained active, registering five shots (four on target), but the rest of her team was limited to just six shots total, many of which were relatively low-danger chances.  Edmark tacked on one more save in the fourth quarter with six minutes left as Jenna Stowell was denied.  She had left her team down a player by getting dealt a five-minute yellow card in the 44th minute (after a previous two-minute green card earlier), but the Panthers' hopes at that point down three with 17 minutes to go, appeared faint anyway.

Edmark (2-1) stopped four of five shots in her second start of the season and picked up the win.  Sherbert fell to 7-2 after stopping four of seven shots in the first half.  Antonucci had two saves in the second half as the Panthers fell in the quarterfinal round of the LEC tournament for the third straight season there was a tournament conducted.  They have not been past that round since 2017, when they lost 5-3 in Keene in the semifinals.

For the Owls, who moved two games over .500 for the first time since October 5, it will be time to travel from here, as each of the other three top seeds also won – though two of them not easily – if they want to capture their league-record 15th conference tournament title.  The journey continues Thursday night.

Penalty Strokes

• KSC is 30-10-1 all-time against Plymouth, including a 20-1 mark in Keene and a 10-1 mark in 11 all-time postseason meetings.  The two teams had met seven times in the LEC championship game from 1998 through 2013.
• Stefanakos' goal and two assists leave her with eight goals and nine assists (25 points) over the last seven games.
• Cahoon's multi-goal game is the first of this season.  She has had one on October 16, 2021 at Framingham State University.

Up Next

• KSC takes on top-seeded University of Southern Maine (14-7) on Thursday (November 3) at 7:00 p.m. in Gorham.  The Owls took the regular season meeting 4-2 in Keene and will be meeting the Huskies for the second straight year in the semifinals.  USM scored with 5:20 to go to evade an upset bid by No. 8 seed Framingham State, who had erased a 2-0 deficit and tied the game just 2:46 earlier.  The other semifinal will see No. 2 seed Worcester State University, who also eked out a home win (3-2 over No. 7 seed Westfield State University), take on third-seeded Castleton University, who dominated Fitchburg State University in a 5-1 win.  The two semifinal winners will meet in the championship Saturday.
• Plymouth State's loss ends their season and the career of head coach Bonnie Lord, who will retire after 23 seasons and a 274-151 career record.  The Panthers won three straight LEC tournament championships from 2000 through 2002, reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament twice.