GORHAM, Maine – Early in the third quarter, the Keene State College field hockey team had an 8-1 advantage in shots and a 5-0 advantage in penalty corners.  For the game, they had an 11-1 edge in penalty corners.  However, none of those opportunities resulted in a score and Hannah Banks' goal with 1:29 left in the third quarter proved to be enough as the University of Southern Maine beat the Owls 1-0 to win the Little East Conference championship on Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.

Records

• Keene State:  13-9
• Southern Maine:  15-7

How It Happened
It was a far different style of game compared to the regular season, when the two teams combined for nine goals in a 5-4 game, but nonetheless the same result – a fifth consecutive one goal loss at Hannaford Field for the Owls and now a three-game losing streak in LEC championship games in which they have been shutout each time.  Unlike the regular season matchup when USM scored twice in the opening 15:56 and played from ahead for most of the time before scoring twice late after KSC briefly led 4-3, the Owls were clearly controlling the possession and chances – with Southern Maine's first shot on goal not coming until over 35 minutes into the game.  But at that point it was still 0-0 because, much like the regular season meeting, KSC struggled to cash in on ample opportunities.   On September 30, a game result that helped lead to having to play the championship on the road to begin with, Keene State had a 14-4 shots advantage and 12 of 13 penalty corners in the first half, but had to settle for a 2-2 tie and then were behind again one minute into the second half.  Today, KSC was getting their leading offensive threats time and space on numerous occasions, but could not find the back of the cage and wound up being held to a goal or fewer on the road for the sixth time in 11 road games.  KSC second leading scorer Irini Stefanakos had a chance just 2:08 into the game, but her shot was blocked, and then leading scorer Grace Bazin sent a shot wide two minutes later before Meghan Daileanes did the same in the seventh minute.  All three scored in Thursday night's home semifinal win over Plymouth State University, and the trio had 42 goals and 21 assists (105 points) to their name on the season, but they could not add to their total today.

Keene State had a late corner in the first and had two more chances to take a lead, but defender Taylor Leclerc denied Daileanes and goalkeeper Julianna Kiklis saved a shot from Elizabeth Gonyea within the final 11 seconds of the period.  The Owls then had three corner chances in the opening 10 minutes of the second, but Bazin shot wide and USM then had another defender – this time Jordan Cummings – prevent a score, this time on Gonyea in the 26th minute.  It remained a scoreless game heading into the locker room, with KSC outshooting USM 7-1 and having all five corners.

Daileanes, in her rookie season, continued to generate substantial threats including another just over a minute into the second half, but Kiklis made another save, and the game turned from there, with the Huskies generating their first sustained pressure of the game five minutes into the third and forcing KSC keeper Clara Gorman to make a pair of saves, one on Brooke Carson and the other on Banks, in the 36th minute.  KSC could not take advantage of being a player up after a green card on Cummings at the 36:23 mark, and later found themselves chasing with less than 17 minutes to go in the game after Banks lofted a ball past Gorman in front at the 43:31 mark.

Down 1-0, the Owls earned a corner a little less than four minutes into the final period, but Stefanakos' shot after inserting a corner just seconds prior was stopped by Kiklis and her follow-up shot was wide.  Gorman made three critical saves within 32 seconds of each other in the 54th minute to keep it a 1-0 lead and it seemed those might prove even more important when KSC was awarded three corners in less than a minute, but the Owls could not break through as Kiklis again stopped Stefanakos with five minutes to go and again with 4:15 left.  In between, Stefanakos also fired a shot wide.  The Owls got their own green card (on Grace Murphy) with 2:37 left and were forced to play a player down as they searched to the equalizer.  It never came, and their final credited shot came with 1:30 left when Daileanes shot wide.

"We did a great job earning the corners," said Keene State head coach Amy Watson.  "We just couldn't finish.  We played well defensively.  They had one really well-placed shot that went in, and that unfortunately was the difference."

The LEC title is Southern Maine's second in program history after they previously won 20 years ago.

For KSC, it was a bitter ending as they looked to win their first title since 2018 (the final year of six straight wins).  After outscoring opponents 43-15 while winning in 14 of their first 18 trips to the league title game, they have lost their last three by a combined 8-0 score.

Gorman made five saves for KSC in the loss while Kiklis had six stops in the shutout win for Southern Maine.  Banks was named the Most Outstanding Player.

Penalty Strokes

• Stefanakos ends the season with 52 career goals and 136 career points, good for eighth and seventh on the all-time Keene State lists, respectively.
• KSC is 14-7 (.667) all-time in the Little East championship game and Southern Maine 2-4 (.333).
• After losing just three times head-to-head from 1997 through 2018, Keene State has lost five of their last seven against USM, all on the road.  The Owls are 31-8 in the series.
• Keene State averaged 2.3 goals per game on the road this season, though 14 came in two games.  They had 11 goals in the other nine games (1.2 per game) away from the Owl Athletic Complex.

Up Next

• KSC's season is over.  They will look forward to 2024 and expect to return their top six scorers from this season.
• Southern Maine receives the automatic bid from the Little East Conference to the NCAA tournament.  They will find out their opponent, location, and time on Sunday (November 5).  The first round is Wednesday, November 8.  USM lost to Rowan University 2-1 (2OT) in the NCAA tournament in 2003.  They will be making their sixth appearance – four came from 1987-1992.