WORCESTER, Mass. – Abigail Rauch scored multiple goals in a game for the first time in her career on Senior Day as Worcester Polytechnic Institute outshot the Keene State College field hockey team 10-0 in the third quarter and pulled away to a 4-0 win on Wednesday in non-conference action at H.Carr Field.

Records

• Keene State:  12-7
• WPI:  8-8

How It Happened
The game was scoreless until there were less than three minutes left in the first half, but ultimately all four of the Engineers' goals came in a 20:30 span of game time as they won their final home game of the regular season and reached .500 for the first time on the season after starting the season 0-5 – a stretch that saw them outscored 17-0 in their first four games.  WPI is 8-3 since, and on the strength of a third quarter that saw them outshoot the Owls 10-0 and score twice, ended KSC's four-game winning streak and dropped them to 6-4 on the road.

Chances were slim over the opening 25 minutes of the game, and what few there were ended in either saves or blocked shots.  Grace Bazin had a scoring chance barely over a minute into the game, but WPI goalkeeper Ella Moreau made the stop.  The Engineers had a penalty corner less than 30 seconds later and then another in the fourth minute, but neither ended in a goal, as Emily Sollecito's shot was blocked and Arie Lang was denied by Clara Gorman 6:40 in.  Meghan Daileanes was stopped by Moreau in the 10th minute, and as the first quarter clock ticked down, Irini Stefanakos' bid following a corner was blocked to keep it scoreless.
Neither team threatened over the opening six minutes of the second quarter, and there was just one shot (that was blocked) by either team over the opening 10 minutes, but WPI pressured late in the half and potted the first goal with 2:45 left until the break when Lang, after having a shot saved by Gorman a minute later, found Eliza Dutson by the back post for a tap in and a 1-0 lead.  Moreau prevented a rapid answer from KSC by denying Bazin and Hannah Wood in a 13-second span in the 28th minute, and Gorman kicked away another Lang shot with 1:26 on the clock.  WPI could not cash in on a last-second corner and carried a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The third quarter was all Engineers, and because of it the game turned into a runaway.  Dutson hit the post just 2:38 in, but Rauch was right there to pot the rebound into the right side of the cage to make it 2-0.  Not even three minutes later, Lang rocketed a shot in from the middle of the circle to make it 3-0 in the 36th minute.  WPI kept looking for more, but Gorman saved a try from Eve Martineau in the 42nd minute and Elizabeth Gonyea cleared Abbey Powers' shot in the final minute of the quarter.

Facing a big deficit in the final 15 minutes, the Owls finally found some offense right away in the fourth and had a pair of corners, but Gonyea was stopped by Moreau at the 45:55 mark and eight seconds later a shot by Daileanes blocked.  Gorman made an initial stop on Lauren Simonian just a few minutes later, but Rauch swatted it out of mid-air just seconds later to make it 4-0.

Moreau stopped six saves in the shutout win.  Gorman also had six stops for KSC in the losing effort.

Penalty Strokes

• WPI had a 23-8 advantage in shots (10-0 in the third quarter) and 7-4 in penalty corners.
• KSC has been shut out three times this season – all on the road.
• The Engineers have won both meetings in an all-time series that began last year on October 8 in Keene, a game won by WPI 4-3.
• KSC is the No. 2 seed in the Little East Conference tournament, while WPI will be the No. 3 seed in the NEWMAC tournament next week.

Up Next

• Keene State closes their regular season with a Senior Day home matchup against Union College (10-7, 4-3 Liberty League) on Saturday (October 28) at 2:00 p.m.
• WPI closes their regular season at Wellesley College (8-8, 4-4 NEWMAC) on the same day (1:00 p.m.).