KEENE, N.H. – Junior
Irini Stefanakos had two goals and
Elizabeth Gonyea a pair of assists, but it was not enough as Jackie Frank scored four times and Demi Janis twice as No. 21 nationally-ranked Trinity College (Conn.) pulled away for an 8-2 victory over the Keene State College field hockey team on Tuesday night at the Owl Athletic Complex.
Records
- Keene State: 8-6
- Trinity (Conn.): 8-4
How It Happened
The Owls took a 2-1 lead when Stefanakos scored twice following corners, first at the 5:10 mark and then at the 15:25 mark, but the Bantams tied the game at two 20 seconds later and took a 3-2 lead at the 17:36 mark before pulling away after that. The visitors led 4-2 at halftime, getting three goals from Frank – who entered with two on the season – and one from Janis while also outshooting KSC 10-3 and having eight penalty corners. Janis and Frank continued their offensive barrage over the opening 8:50 out of the locker room, as they each scored to push the Bantams' lead to 6-2, and they were well on their way from there before tacking on two goals to account for the final score midway through the fourth quarter. KSC could not manage much offense in the final 30 minutes, as they were held shotless and to one penalty corner opportunity.
In the first half, corners resulted in all of the Owls' offense, as in the sixth minute, Stefanakos inserted a pass to
Grace Seabury, who passed through traffic to
Elizabeth Gonyea, who fired in the direction of
Grace Bazin and Stefanakos, the latter of whom redirected the ball past Trinity goalkeeper Olivia McMichael to tie the game at one. Less than 20 seconds into the second quarter, Stefanakos passed to
Grace Murphy at the top of the circle to begin a corner before Murphy then found Bazin on the left. What appeared to be a shot by the Owls' points leader wound up being double deflected as Gonyea nicked it to Stefanakos, who beat McMichael to her right again for a 2-1 lead.
However, KSC's momentum did not even have a chance to build, as 20 seconds later Frank rushed up the right side and attacked the cage to tie it 2-2. After Keene State failed to clear the ball out of their circle at the 12:28 mark in the second quarter, Frank lofted a shot past Owls keeper
Clara Gorman and defender
Hailey Patridge to give Trinity the lead back, an advantage they would not relinquish.
The Bantams doubled their lead with about five minutes left until halftime after KSC could not kill off a corner, as Harper Siemens denied
Demetria Gonzalez's clearance, carried toward the endline, and fired into the middle, where Frank mashed in Katrina Winfield's pass to make it 4-2.
Down two early in the third, Keene State did earn a penalty corner just 1:26 in, but it did not result in anything, and the Bantams tacked on two goals in 4:12 a short time later to go up by four, and the Owls never got back in the game after that.
Gorman made four saves in 35:50 for KSC, while Edmark had one stop in the final 24:10.
None of Trinity's three goalkeepers made a save, with McMichael allowing two goals in 39:56.
Penalty Strokes
- Trinity improved to 8-5 all-time in Keene and has won the last 12 meetings in the series. The two goals were the most the Owls scored head-to-head since losing 3-2 at home on September 22, 2016.
- The Bantams have scored at least eight goals in three consecutive games in the series after scoring exactly three in the previous four.
- Stefanakos has scored in nine of 14 games so far this season.
Up Next
- Keene State remains home to host Rivier University (5-6, 5-3 GNAC) on Thursday (October 12) at 6:30 p.m.
- Trinity hosts top-ranked Middlebury College (11-0, 6-0 NESCAC) in their final home game of the regular season and Senior Day on Saturday, October 14 at 11:00 a.m. The Bantams downed eventual national champion Middlebury 2-1 in Vermont last year in the regular season before losing to them 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
