KEENE, N.H. – Senior midfielder
Maggie Cahoon scored a goal, assisted on one, and also saw her younger sister Emma tally another as the Keene State College field hockey team used a strong start to a never-in-much-doubt 4-1 Little East Conference victory over Plymouth State University Tuesday night at Owl Athletic Complex.
Records
- Keene State: 4-3, 3-0 LEC
- Plymouth State: 5-3, 3-1 LEC
Postgame Interview (Coach Watson)
Postgame Interview (Maggie Cahoon)
How It Happened
KSC was on the board 6:26 in when penalty stroke specialist
Molly Murray beat Kayla Antonucci to her right and the Owls played from ahead all night, beating their in-state rivals for the ninth time in the last 10 head-to-head meetings while also snapping the five-game winning streak they brought into the matchup. Keene State outshot Plymouth 8-4 in the opening half and were awarded seven of the 11 corner chances in the period, when they scored three of their four goals. A pair of second quarter tallies – one from
Maggie Cahoon just 47 seconds in and the other from
Emma Cahoon in the 23rd minute – really helped the Owls gain separation, as they took a 3-0 advantage to the locker room. The first goal came off a corner, as
Molly Murray fed
Hannah Wood outside the circle, who passed over to Lauren Hauuser on the left, who subsequently fed Cahoon with a perfect pass that resulted in a sweeping shot that beat Antonucci for a 2-0 lead.
Emma Cahoon made it 3-0 with 7:13 left in the first half when she corralled the ball after a scramble in front and elevated it past Antonucci, notching her first point of the season.
Although the Owls were never under siege on the evening, their defense led by senior
Hailey Patridge and first year goalkeeper
Clara Gorman (4-3) made all the plays when they needed to on the evening to keep KSC in command. Gorman stopped Taylor Healey twice in the opening five minutes of what was a scoreless game at the time, and then stopped her again with a little over three minutes left in the second quarter to keep it 3-0 and deny PSU any momentum. Four of her eight stops on the evening came in the second half as the Panthers did generate more transition chances in the second half facing a sizable deficit, but aside from an Athena Comeau tally in which she rushed up the middle following a KSC turnover with 1:53 left in the third, Plymouth State was generally held to non-threatening chances from the outside for most of the night.
Leading 3-0 entering the second half, Keene State tacked on another just 4:37 into the third quarter to go up four as
Irini Stefanakos – who had four shots (one on target) on the night – pickpocketed Alessia Salzillo just outside the circle and found Cahoon with space near the top of the circle. She then found
Ellie Hunkins on the doorstep, who directed the ball into the top of the cage past a sprawling Antonucci for her first of the season. Now down 4-0, the Panthers did post seven of the game's final 10 shots, but at that point it was far too late to make any dent in the outcome as KSC took the battle of two teams with unbeaten conference records very early in the league slate. Plymouth lost their first two games of the season, but had won their previous five, including an 11-1 pasting of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in their last outing. The Owls, meanwhile, are now 4-0 when allow one or fewer goals and 0-3 otherwise. They have outscored LEC opponents 8-2 in their 3-0 conference start.
Antonucci (2-3) made four saves on eight shots in the losing effort for Plymouth. Healey, the league's leading shot-taker, came up empty on seven attempts.
Penalty Strokes
- KSC is 11-2 in games in which Maggie Cahoon has scored a goal in her career. She and her sister have now scored in the same game twice.
- In an early look around the league, there are currently four teams unblemished in conference play: the University of Southern Maine (4-0), Worcester State University (3-0), KSC (3-0), and Castleton University (3-0).
- PSU head coach Bonnie Lord, in her 23rd season, recently announced she will be retiring after the 2022 season.
Up Next
- Keene State concludes a stretch with four of five games at home Thursday night (September 29) when they welcome Smith College (3-5, 1-1 NEWMAC) for a non-conference game that begins at 6:30 p.m. The Pioneers snapped a four-game losing streak, three against nationally-ranked trams, when they beat Clark University 3-1 at home last Saturday. KSC beat Smith 4-3 in double overtime in their last visit to Keene in 2019.
- Plymouth State visits Eastern Connecticut State University (3-5, 1-3 LEC) on Saturday, October 1 for a 3:00 p.m. start. The Warriors won the league tournament last year and were picked second in the preseason poll, but were winless in the league until beating struggling UMass-Dartmouth 4-0 at home today.
