DANBURY, Conn. – Sophomore forward Irini Stefanakos scored with 2:37 remaining in the second overtime as the Keene State College field hockey team finally cracked the scoreboard on their 39th shot attempt of the game, escaping Western Connecticut State University 1-0 in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex.

Records

• Keene State:  3-3, 2-0 LEC
• Western Connecticut:  3-5, 0-3 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls peppered the Wolves' cage all game to the tune of a 39-10 shots advantage, but WestConn goalkeeper Kayla Hnasko made 22 saves and her defenders helped her by clearing three other shots off the line as KSC needed extra time to decide a second consecutive game after a 4-3 home loss to New England College on Wednesday night.  Keene State led that contest by two in the first quarter after scoring three times in the opening 13 minutes, but their offense went silent after, and their finishing touch did not return today for quite a while despite the lopsided shot count.  WCSU had given up 14 consecutive goals before snapping the four-game slide with a 6-0 win over Elms College Wednesday night, but were blanked for the fifth time in the last six games, of which they have been outshot by an overage of 19.8 per game.

Keene State was all over the field offensively on this day, as Stefanakos alone fired 14 shots (11 on target) while Kalina Piasecki had seven, five of which were saved.  First year Owl goalkeeper Clara Gorman (3-3) made six saves in 77:23 to notch her first career shutout, including timely ones with less than nine minutes to go in regulation as Madison McColl got a shot off and with 3:37 left in the second overtime when Regiane Silva tried for the winner.  KSC also blocked two shots by Phalina Sciara in that period as WestConn recorded three shots (KSC five) after having four in the previous 55 minutes of game action.  Before her winner, Stefanakos got two shots on Hnasko earlier in the second overtime, one off a corner, but both were stopped.  The third time did end up proving to be the charm.

It was actually the Wolves who had chances early, as Gorman needed to make a save on Sciara in the third minute and Sydney Chenoweth in the sixth.  One other for WCSU went wide in that span as the Owls had a 5-3 shots advantage in the opening 15 minutes.  That chasm grew exponentially from there, as KSC outshot the Wolves 24-4 over the final 45 minutes of regulation and then 5-0 in the first overtime, but could not break through until late in the second overtime, just minutes away from a rarely-seen penalty shootout.

"We had a difficult time cracking their defense today.  We had our share of opportunities but just couldn't finish," said KSC head coach Amy Watson.  "Fortunately Irini (Stefanakos) was able to sneak one up and over the goalie in the final minutes of 2OT.  It was a hard-fought defensive battle by both teams."

Penalty Strokes

• Stefanakos has three goals and two assists in her last three games, recording a point in each one.
• Keene State has won all 19 meetings against WestConn in the series, though two in a row and three of the last five in that span have needed two overtimes to decide.  Mixed in between were 8-1 and 4-2 (playoff) wins in 2019.  KSC had not played a game in Danbury in four years.
• It was KSC's first shutout since blanking Bridgewater State University 9-0 at home on October 2 last year.

Up Next

• The Owls return home for two games in three days, starting with a matchup against Plymouth State University (5-2, 3-0 LEC) on Tuesday, September 27 at 6:30 p.m.  The Panthers beat struggling University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 11-1 today.
• WestConn continues a four-game homestand on the same night against Framingham State University (3-3, 0-2 LEC) at 6:00 p.m.