KEENE, N.H. – Thanks in part to a career-high six goals from senior midfielder Mindy St. Marie, the No. 4 seed Keene State College women's lacrosse team defeated No. 5 Eastern Connecticut State University 22-12 Tuesday in the Quarterfinals of the Little East Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament at the Owl Athletic Complex.
 
Records

• Keene State: 8-10
• Eastern Connecticut State: 5-11

Postgame Interview (Coach Wyant)
Postgame Interview (Haile Ratajack)

How it Happened
Three different goal scorers gave the Owls a sizeable lead in the first quarter. Freshman midfielder Tess Brown scored the first goal at 13:15. Senior midfielder Haile Ratajack scored the first of her four goals at 9:13. Junior attacker Hannah Dworkin finished the scoring run with a goal at 5:43. After a goal by the Warriors, St. Marie finished the first quarter with a goal to extend the Owls lead to 4-1.
 
In the second quarter, Eastern Connecticut scored two of the first three goals in the frame to cut KSC's lead down to 5-3. St. Marie did score her second goal of the game during that stretch on a free position shot at 6:25. Keene State would finish the half strong by scoring the final five goals of the quarter. Five different players contributed for the Owls during that run, as Ratajack, St. Marie, senior attacker Jackie DeAngelis, sophomore attacker Chase Gengras, and freshman midfielder Annaliese Rudberg each scored a goal.
 
Eastern Connecticut State continued to keep close with the Owls in the second half by scoring the first three goals in the third quarter. Once again, however, Keene State responded with a scoring run of its own. Five consecutive goals from KSC, courtesy of Brown, sophomore attacker Lola Smith, St. Marie, Gengras, and freshman midfielder Riley Devine. Keene State took a 15-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The final quarter would feature the most offense, as both teams combined to score 13 goals in the last 15 minutes of the game. The two teams traded goals at the start of the frame, with DeAngelis and St. Marie scoring for the Owls. After that, Eastern Connecticut State scored the next four goals to make it 17-12 Keene State with 6:23 remaining. But the Owls had one more scoring run up their sleeve, as the team finished the game by scoring the final five goals. The first two came from Ratajack 16 seconds apart at 6:06 and 5:50. Brown scored again 20 seconds later to make it 20-12. St. Marie added her sixth goal of the game at 3:24. DeAngelis' third goal of the night at 2:51 put the Owls up by 10, allowing the game clock to continue to run until the final horn.
 
Inside the Crease

• Keene State's eight wins are the most they have had in a season since 2019, when the team finished 8-8.
• This is the first time this season that the Owls have scored at least 20 goals in a game. The last time Keene State scored at least 20 was back on April 27, 2021, when the Owls defeated Eastern Connecticut State 23-13 in the LEC quarterfinals.
• Four players scored at least three goals for the Owls (St. Marie with 6, Ratajack with 4, DeAngelis with 3, Brown with 3).
• With her four goals, Ratajack has 55 for the season. That is tied for the eighth most goals in a season in Keene State women's lacrosse history with Brigid Casey in 2019.
• The Owls scored a season-high six free position goals out of nine free position shots. Ratajack and St. Marie both scored twice, while DeAngelis and Gengras each scored once.

 
Up Next
The Owls advance to the semifinals to take on No. 1 seed Western Connecticut State University on Thursday, May 4 at 3:30 p.m., in Danbury, Conn. WestConn defeated Keene State 14-2 back on April 15.