DANBURY, Conn. – Sophomore Grace Bazin broke past three Western Connecticut State University defenders to be in alone on the goalkeeper and did not miss, potting the game-winning goal with 3:55 left in the first overtime session as the Keene State College field hockey team picked up a 1-0 Little East Conference win on Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex.

Records

• Keene State:  10-6, 3-1 LEC
• Western Connecticut:  4-8, 1-2 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls outshot the Wolves 22-6 and had a 15-3 edge in penalty corners, but Kayla Hnasko made 13 saves and it took until late in the first overtime in a seven-on-seven for KSC to break through.  Once they did however, it marked consecutive wins and a 3-1 league mark for the Owls with just two LEC matchups left.  If KSC wins both, it would seem a fair possibility they would lock up a top two spot in the league standings and quarterfinal bye.  However, despite KSC already knocking out four of their six conference games, Vermont State University Castleton played their very first contest today (pummeling 2-9-1 Eastern Connecticut State University 9-2) and Plymouth State University (1-1) has played only two – helping to muddle the standings with a drastic differential in the number of games played.

Regardless of the standings, on Saturday, Keene State evaded a strong upset bid from a WestConn team that entered with five consecutive losses by a combined 19-2 score while being shutout three times.  The homestanding Wolves also got shutout today and were bereft of many chances, managing only one shot over the opening 35:16.  However, they very nearly took the lead in the 36th minute, as KSC keeper Clara Gorman was not nearly as busy as Hnasko, but needed to stop shots from Reagan Schoen and Sydney Chenoweth five seconds apart before Hailey Patridge stopped Alyssa Montalvo's shot 11 seconds after that.  That proved to be WCSU's only real offensive threat of the second half, but the problem for KSC was solving Hnasko, who made five stops in the second quarter alone.  The Owls pressed for a goal in the final minute before heading to the locker room, trying to establish any kind of momentum, but Stefanakos was twice denied on corner chances in that span, and Grace Seabury shot wide in between.

Scoreless at the half, Keene State was right back at it after halftime, earning a corner 45 seconds in, but Hnasko stopped Kalina Piasecki.  The Wolves' goaltender also thwarted shots from each of the Owls' leading scorers (Bazin and Stefanakos) in the 39th minute as it was still a scoreless game entering the fourth.  It remained all KSC in the final 15 minutes, but Molly Murray's shot was saved at the 51:00 mark and Piasecki denied again in the 56th minute.  The Owls were given their 14th corner of the day with four minutes to go, but Elizabeth Gonyea's shot that resulted from it was blocked.

Bazin and Stefanakos controlled the overtime session offensively for KSC, and it wound up being the two of them that connected on a fastbreak chance that gave the Owls the win, as after WCSU had their own offensive opportunity jammed up in the circle, Stefanakos corralled the ball on the left side and broke past a defender before firing a pass that sent Bazin in alone.  The Owls' sophomore charged into the circle and, with Hnasko aggressively coming out of her cage, stopped, turned and fired a shot past her for the win.  The goal was Bazin's team-leading 14th of the season, one ahead of Stefanakos as the two have combined for 66 of KSC's 124 points.

"We had plenty of chances to put the game away in regulation time, but WestConn played tight and solid defense," said Keene State head coach Amy Watson.  "Once we got to 7v7, we were able to use the open space to our advantage.  Irini broke free on the wing line and was able to find Grace for a 1vGK opportunity to get the game winner."

Gorman made five saves in the shutout, while Hnasko stopped 13 in the losing effort.

Penalty Strokes

• KSC improved to 20-0 all-time against WCSU, but four of the past six games have gone to overtime.  The Owls needed double-overtime to down the Wolves last year, outshooting them 39-10.  Hnasko made 22 saves in that contest.
• Bazin has a team-leading four game-winning goals and has scored in 10 of her first 16 Keene State games.

Up Next

• KSC hosts Vermont State Castleton (8-3, 1-0 LEC) on Wednesday, October 18 at 6:30 p.m. in another conference matchup.  The Owls have just one league game remaining after that and have two non-conference matchups in the regular season's final week.
• Western Connecticut welcomes Framingham State University on Tuesday (October 17) at 6:00 p.m. in their final home game of the regular season.