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KEENE STATE OWLS
Field Hockey Postgame 10.21.2023
3
Eastern Connecticut ECSU (2-12-1, 0-4 LEC)
6
Winner Keene State KSC (12-6, 5-1 LEC)
Eastern Connecticut ECSU
(2-12-1, 0-4 LEC)
3
Final
6
Keene State KSC
(12-6, 5-1 LEC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Eastern Connecticut ECSU 0 0 1 2 3
Keene State KSC 2 2 2 0 6

Game Recap: Field Hockey | | Ryan Hearn, Sports Information Assistant

Field Hockey Wallops Eastern Connecticut to Clinch No. 2 Seed in LEC

Owls Score First Five Goals, Roll to Fourth Straight Win

KEENE, N.H. – Keene State College field hockey leading scorers Irini Stefanakos and Grace Bazin did not let heavy rains bother them, combining for three goals and two assists on the day to help the Owls pummel Eastern Connecticut State University 6-3 in Little East Conference action at the Owl Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.

Records
  • Keene State:  12-6, 5-1 LEC
  • Eastern Connecticut:  2-12-1, 0-4 LEC
Postgame Interview (Coach Watson)
Postgame Interview (Irini Stefanakos)

How It Happened
Playing in downpours from start to finish, the Owls kept their offense rolling at home and, in the process, clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament which begins with the quarterfinals on Halloween.  By virtue of clinching that spot, KSC will not have to play on Halloween but instead on Thursday at home in the semifinals.  Keene State entered the stay still having a shot at the top seed if they won and the University of Southern Maine lost at Vermont State University Castleton, but the Huskies stuffed the Spartans 4-1 to lock up the regular season title for a second consecutive season, this time in a new-look league with just the league's core members.
KSC had little trouble in their conference regular season finale, scoring just 3:19 in when Grace Seabury caused problems for the Warriors in the box and passed off to her left to Stefanakos, who fired a shot in from the middle of the circle past Veronica McKenna.  The roles reversed 10 minutes later when the Owls capitalized on a corner.  Elizabeth Gonyea inserted a pass to Stefanakos at the top of the circle, who moved a few steps in before making a nice reverse pass to Seabury, who while moving away from the goal beat McKenna to make it 2-0.

Eastern Connecticut's chances were sparse, particularly in the opening 30 minutes when they were outshot 15-5.  The Owls had 10 shots (half of their game total) in the second quarter and piled on two more goals to their advantage.  Grace Bazin was stopped four times by McKenna and sent two other shots wide in an eight-minute span beginning at the 16:22 mark, but she eventually would not be denied, corralling a ball right in front of the cage and firing it home for a three-goal KSC lead.  The Warriors had a shot to get one back late in the period, but Owls keeper Clara Gorman made a pair of stops and Hailey Patridge cleared away Kaylee Drobish's shot that had gotten past Gorman with 3:26 left in the half.  Keene State made it 4-0 with 36.4 to go after Molly Murray corralled a bouncing ball just outside the circle, took a few steps into the top of it, and sent a ball that skittered past McKenna, who did make five saves in the first half but allowed four goals.

After scoring in the opening 3:19 of the game, Stefanakos did even better to start the second half, finding the back of the cage for her 16th goal of the season (moving again one behind Bazin) in only 1:09.  That marker came in transition, with Stefanakos carrying up the field and threading a pass to Bazin through two ECSU defenders.  Bazin then entered the circle and passed back to Stefanakos who carried into the middle and beat new Eastern goalkeeper Hannah Jalowiec to her right.

The Warriors got on the board less than two minutes later, but Bazin helped Jennifer Erikson tally her first collegiate goal in the 40th minute that made it 6-1, a lead the Owls carried into the final 15 minutes before ECSU set the final margin with a pair of goals.

Gorman stopped six shots in 55:57 for the Owls in the win before Molly Edmark played the final 4:03.

In addition to McKenna's five stops, Jalowiec had a pair.  Katie Harrington scored twice for Eastern Connecticut and Betsy Davis once, but it was not nearly enough for the Warriors to avoid their ninth consecutive loss.  They have been outscored 38-10 in that span and likely must win both of their remaining games (home against fifth-place Western Connecticut State University and at fourth-place Plymouth State University) to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

Penalty Strokes
  • The Owls have scored 34 goals at home in nine games this season (3.8 per game) compared to 25 in the same number of games on the road (2.8 per game).
  • Stefanakos and Bazin have each recorded points in four straight and five of the last six games.
  • KSC is 8-2 when scoring three or more goals on the season with the only losses coming against then-No. 10 Amherst College on September 12 and at Southern Maine on September 30.
Up Next
  • The Owls close their regular season with a pair of non-conference matchups, starting with their first-ever visit to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (7-8, 6-2 NEWMAC) on Wednesday, October 25 at 4:30 p.m.  The Engineers won 4-3 last year in Keene as part of a 12-8, 6-2 campaign.
  • Eastern Connecticut, still looking for their first home win (0-6-1), hosts in-state conference rival Western Connecticut State University in their home finale on the same day (4:00 p.m.).
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