KEENE, N.H. – Junior Elizabeth Gonyea and sophomore Grace Bazin each scored two goals as part of a four-goal first half and the Keene State College field hockey team used that fast start to go on to a 5-3 Little East Conference victory over Vermont State University Castleton on Wednesday night at the Owl Athletic Complex in their penultimate regular season league game.

Records

• Keene State:  11-6, 4-1 LEC
• Vermont State Castleton:  8-5, 1-1 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Watson)
Postgame Interview (Elizabeth Gonyea)

How It Happened
In a key game against the defending league champion who was coming off a one-goal home loss to nationally No. 10 ranked Bates College, the Owls kept their offense rolling at home.  KSC was on the board just 2:31 in and, after the Spartans tied it less than three minutes later, piled on three more in a 12-minute span spanning the first and second quarters and that proved to be enough for the victory.  Keene State was dominant in the first half, outshooting Castleton 13-3, but was on the defensive most of the second after taking a 5-1 lead on Irini Stefanakos' goal in the 35th minute.  The Spartans scored twice in 2:53 late in the third quarter when Jess Smithson and Theresa Culpo cut the deficit in half, but Clara Gorman stepped up in a big way to keep the score right there.  Threatening to make it a one-goal game very early in the fourth quarter, the KSC keeper denied Jaryn Mazzeriello-Peter at the 48:20 mark and Emily Downing in the 54th minute.  She also denied national leading scorer Emily Harris, who opened Castleton's scoring, with 4:36 to go.  Hailey Patridge made an impressive defensive save with 7:37 left, batting down a lofted ball from Culpo that was on its way into the net to keep it 5-3.  Keene State did lock it down in the final minutes, with the Spartans' final shot coming from Harris with 4:15 left before she sat out two minutes on a green card 30 seconds later.

For as much as the Spartans controlled the possession in the second half, it was all Owls for the opening 35 minutes in opening a 5-1 advantage.  They outshot Castleton 13-3 in the first half and used a corner to get on the board when Murray sent a ball to Stefanakos at the top of the circle.  Her shot deflected off a Spartan stick and Grace Seabury nearly batted it out of mid-air past Zoe Martin, but it hit the post.  However, Gonyea was there to lift home the rebound for a 1-0 lead just 2:31 in.  Meghan Daileanes streaked ahead to steal Castleton's pass off a restart and was nearly in-alone on the keeper up the right side looking to double the lead, but her shot was rocketed just left of the cage.  Harris evened the game 1-1 in the sixth minute with an impressive individual effort up the middle for her 38th goal of the season, beating several KSC defenders and cutting back left in the circle before sliding a shot past an aggressive Gorman to the left.

The tie did not last long, as five minutes later, Martin kicked out a shot from Stefanakos, but Demetria Gonzalez denied the Spartans' clearing attempt after and sent a ball back into the circle and Stefanakos, who spun a pass into Bazin on the near post.  The Owls' leading scorer flicked a shot with her back still to the keeper, beat her cleanly to make it 2-1.  KSC weathered a pair of Castleton penalty corners in the final seconds of the quarter, and then built on their lead in the second quarter by scoring twice in 2:17 to gain breathing room.  At the 20:42 mark, Stefanakos corralled a pass at midfield and passed around a defender before carrying up the middle with plenty of space in front of her.  Just before she entered the circle, she passed off to her left and found Bazin, who with no defenders in the way, beat Martin again for her second goal of the night and a two-goal (3-1) advantage.  A corner led again directly to a KSC goal just minutes later, as Murray inserted a pass to Stefanakos, who carried in herself and fired a shot through traffic that was tipped home by Gonyea for her second of the night.  Martin made a pair of stops in the final 2:22 to keep it a 4-1 game heading into halftime.

The Spartans had a corner 43 seconds out of the locker room, but Madison Gile's shot that ensued from the chance 21 seconds later was wide, and Keene State tacked on another goal with about 10 minutes left in the third when Stefanakos and Bazin formed a 2-on-3 rush up the field.  With Gile on her side the entire way up the field, Stefanakos got around two Spartan defenders that converged and moved left in the circle.  She had two options from there – shoot or pass to Bazin.  She did enough to fake out the goalie on what was actually a shot, and beat Martin to her left just inside the near post for a four-goal advantage.

Castleton made it slightly uncomfortable for KSC down the stretch, piling up six corners in the third quarter (the only ones for either team in the second half) and a 12-1 shots advantage while scoring twice, but the Owls held.

Gorman made eight saves in the Keene State cage in the win, while Martin stopped five shots but also allowed five goals in 38:50 for VTSU Castleton.  Hannah Frittenburg played the final 21:10 and was not tested.

Penalty Strokes

• KSC lost to the Spartans 3-2 in Vermont last year, but is now 14-3 in the all-time series including 9-1 in Keene.
• Stefanakos and Bazin have combined for 30 goals and 15 assists on the season.  The Owls are 8-3 when Stefanakos scores a goal and 8-3 when Bazin scores a goal.
• With just one league game remaining, the Owls are currently in second place, one game behind the University of Southern Maine who they dropped a 5-4 decision on the road to.  In winning tonight, KSC would appear to have the upper hand on at least finishing in second place pending other league results.

Up Next

• Keene State hosts Eastern Connecticut State University (2-11-1, 0-3 LEC) on Saturday, October 21 at 1:00 p.m.  The Warriors have lost eight straight by a combined total of 32-7.
• VTSU Castleton begins a three-game homestand with an important game against Southern Maine (11-6, 4-0 LEC) on the same day (12:00 p.m.).