SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – First year forward Meghan Daileanes (Londonderry, N.H.) scored 46 seconds into the second half and reliable junior standout Irini Stefanakos added another with 3:25 left in regulation as the Keene State College field hockey team overcame a sluggish first half to beat Springfield College 2-0 in the season opener for both teams Friday afternoon at Stagg Field.

Records

• Keene State:  1-0
• Springfield:  0-1

How It Happened
Mixing in new faces to about a third of the starting lineup, the Owls (11-10 in 2022) could not get much going in the opening 30 minutes as the Pride – coming off a 9-10 mark last year and a 14-23 ledger over the last three seasons – had a 10-2 advantage in shots and a whopping 12 penalty corners in that span.  However, thanks to seven saves from sophomore goalkeeper Clara Gorman, it was a scoreless game at halftime.  Grace Bazin's shot that went wide in the seventh minute represented KSC's initial shot on the season, but from there it was all Pride in the first half, as over the next 12 minutes they had eight shots and 11 penalty corner chances before the Owls' next shot attempt – one from Stefanakos that was saved by Remy Niland.  Springfield had one more corner before the half expired, but Emma McLaughlin's resulting shot went wide.

It was a vastly different story out of the locker room – and it took only 46 seconds for the Owls to crack the scoreboard.  Springfield began with the ball, but Grace Seabury helped KSC move up the field and Bazin beat a pair of Pride defenders to get off a shot from the top of the circle that Niland kicked away – only for Daileanes to fire a shot past the fallen goalkeeper for her first career goal and a 1-0 lead.  Now trailing, Springfield had another prolonged flurry of chances that began about three minutes later – but still could not get anything through, as Kaitlin Bardellini was stopped by Gorman and Elizabeth Gonyea in a 19 second span in the 34th minute.  The chances arose from yet two more corner chances – of 22, all of which the Owls were able to eliminate.

Gorman made a nice pad save on Molly Collins with 12:31 to go as Keene State still carried a 1-0 lead into and through the fourth.  Springfield generated no shots on three consecutive corners within 33 seconds of each other a few minutes later, and from there the Owls took over, controlling most of the final 10 minutes.  Niland stopped a try from Hannah Wood following KSC's only corner of the game at the 51:18 mark to keep it 1-0, and it seemed that might be important when Springfield had a corner opportunity a minute later, but Gorman stopped Bardellini again.  Niland made two more saves on a pair of new Owl faces – Bazin and Daileanes, in the 54th and 56th minutes, respectively, but Stefanakos cashed in with 3:25 left for a 2-0 lead.

"The corner ratio (22-1) was the big difference in the game.  We gave them so many player-up opportunities, which is something we can't expect to overcome in future games," said Keene State head coach Amy Watson.  "We were fortunate to escape that unscathed.  On a brigther side, our offense capitalized on some transition play leading to two fast break opportunities which resulted in goals.  Clara (Gorman) and Liz Gonyea came up with some clutch saves."

Penalty Strokes

• Stefanakos, who entered the season with 35 goals in 43 career games, was named to the NFHCA All-American Watch List earlier in the day.
• The teams have split 28 all-time meetings, though KSC had dropped the last three entering today since a 5-2 road win over the Pride in 2018.
• Bazin (transfer from the University of New England), Daileanes (first year), Grace Murphy (transfer from Salve Regina University), and Seabury (first year) all made their Owl debuts.

Up Next

• Keene State travels to face Elms College (0-1; 2-14 in 2022) on Sunday (September 3) for a 3:30 p.m. start.  The Blazers lost 5-0 to Transylvania University in their season opener today at home.
• Springfield hosts Western New England University (1-0; 11-6 in 2022) on the same day at 1:00 p.m.