KEENE, N.H. – Nearly a year after losing to UMass-Boston in the Little East Conference Championship Game, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team avenged its loss with a 15-8 win over the Beacons Saturday at the Owl Athletic Complex. The win keeps the Owls in first place in the LEC.
Records
- Keene State: 7-4, 5-0 LEC
- UMass-Boston: 9-5, 4-1 LEC
How it Happened
The Owls entered this game with a lot of emotion, honoring its nine outgoing seniors before the game.
Lou Granger,
Max Thurston,
Ben Laliberte,
Nathan Sickles,
Michael Sheridan,
Haeden Finerty,
Cooper Cioffi,
Ben Wright and
Max Phillips were all recognized for their contributions to the program.
After the pre-game festivities, the Owls got rolling by scoring four unassisted goals within the first seven minutes of the first quarter. Sickles made the most of his final regular season home game by opening the scoring 39 seconds into the game. Junior attacker
Andrew Miller and freshman midfielder
Tim Souza followed with a goal each, before Sickles scored again to make it 4-0 at 8:30. The Beacons got a goal back thanks to junior midfielder Jacob Banks, but the Owls did not stop scoring.
Sophomore attacker
Rex Maccarini and junior midfielder
Colby Quiet finished the first quarter with a goal each to extend Keene State's lead to 6-1. In the second quarter, KSC got goals from Sickles, Souza, and Quiet, with Thurston assisting on Quiet's goal. Keene State's defense would shut out UMass-Boston in the frame, as the Owls took a 9-1 lead into halftime.
The Beacons would fight back in the second half by outscoring the Owls 4-2 in the third quarter. After UMass-Boston scored the first three goals in the quarter, KSC responded with unassisted goals by Miller and sophomore midfielder
Jeff Wiedenfeld. Banks would score with six seconds remaining in the quarter, bringing the Beacons within six goals as the Owls went into the fourth up 11-5.
In what was a mostly back-and-forth final quarter, the Owls prevailed. Quiet scored his third goal of the day with the Owls up a man at 13:38, following a goal by the Beacons. After UMass-Boston scored again, KSC got two more tallies from Maccarini and Miller. While the Beacons got one more goal from Banks, sophomore midfielder
Giacomo Tedone finished the game with his first goal of the day, giving the Owls their sixth straight victory.
Inside the Crease
- Keene State has an all-time record of 25-5 against UMass-Boston.
- Junior goalkeeper Charlie Giuliotti had a season-high 18 saves in goal for the Owls. He now ranks fifth in the LEC in goals against average (11.44), fourth in saves per game (10.91) and sixth in save percentage (.498).
- Miller's three goals put him eighth in the LEC in total goals with 26.
Up Next
Keene State wraps up its regular season with three straight road games against LEC opponents. First up is Salem State University on Saturday, April 22 at 6 p.m. UMass-Boston will play at Western Connecticut State University on Wednesday, April 19 at 7 p.m.
