BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College scored three times in less than six minutes to start the game, including the final two 31 seconds apart from each other, as the host Gulls posted their second win in 10 all-time tries against the Keene State College field hockey team on Wednesday night at North Field.

The Owls (9-2) were off to their best start in the Division III era a week ago after winning their first nine games but have since dropped a pair of road games while scoring just two goals combined after they had scored 47 in the opening surge.

Tonight, they were playing from behind immediately when the Gulls (7-3) scored on their first corner 1:24 in.  Kathleen Reissfelder began the play, which made its way to Maddy Young.  Gorman made an initial save on her bid, but Reissfelder was right there to pot it for a rapid 1-0 lead.  The hosts' lead would have been doubled a minute later if it weren't for two more Gorman saves and another shot going high – though it ended up widening quickly not long after, as Brooke Yabroudy set up Reagan Hicks off another corner to make it 2-0 barely over five minutes in.  Maddy Dengler and Tori Swanson connected only 31 seconds later for a third goal.

Down 3-0, Keene State subsequently generated their first chances, but Gulls goaltender Faith Minickene stopped both Irini Stefanakos and Grace Bazin within seconds of each other in the seventh minute to deny the Owls momentum.  Gorman had to stop Swanson twice more before the quarter ended to prevent more Endicott scoring, with the Gulls outshooting KSC 11-4 in the opening 15 minutes.  In fact, the 21 shots the hosts generated in the first and fourth quarters represented 75 percent of their shot output on the night.  It was plenty regardless, as KSC did not make much of a dent in the deficit in the middle two quarters where they outshot the hosts 9-7.

The Owls did not crack the scoreboard until the 34:43 mark when Stefanakos began a restart by passing off to Meghan Daileanes in the middle, who tipped a pass to Bazin right in front of Minickene and KSC's leading scorer did not miss, beating her to her left for her 18th goal of the season.

However, before the Owls even had a chance to build any momentum, they were again down three only 67 seconds later as they could not clear and saw Yabroudy pass into the middle, where Maddy Dengler was there to redirect in her sixth marker of the campaign.

KSC had a corner chance in the 38th minute looking to get back into the game, but Minickene made two more stops in quick succession to snuff out the Owls, and the visitors' offense was mostly silent over the game's final 20 minutes.  Endicott pushed for more in the fourth, but KSC first year goalie Katelyn Nicotera saved five of the six shots that came her way over the final 45 minutes after she entered to begin the second.  Minickene made seven stops in the win for the Gulls, who have won five straight and are 5-2 at home.  Their losses on the season have come to then-No. 3 Babson College on the road (4-2), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1-0 at home), and then-No. 23 State University of New York at New Paltz (5-4 at home).

The night ultimately came down to the early barrage, from which the Owls never recovered.

"We came out flat and got outplayed early in the first period," said KSC head coach Amy Watson.  "We gave up three quick goals and that proved to be too much to overcome.  Endicott was a tough opponent, and this game highlighted some of our weaknesses.  Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and improve our play as our Little East schedule starts to unfold."

Endicott held a 28-14 edge in shots – 21-5 in the over the first and last quarters – and a 9-5 advantage in corners.

Stefanakos and Bazin combined for eight of KSC's 14 shots in the game, with Bazin's goal bringing her one step closer to 100 points for her career.  She now has 98 career points (14 at the University of New England and 84 at KSC) has 36 goals in 32 games as an Owl.

Tonight marked the first meeting between the two sides in 13 years, with KSC blanking the Gulls 2-0 and holding them without a shot on goal on November 9, 2011 in Keene.  Their only prior defeat in the series before tonight was a 1-0 shutout loss on the road in 2002.

Next up for KSC is a rematch of last year's Little East tournament championship game against the University of Southern Maine (3-6) at home on Saturday (October 5) at 2:00 p.m.  The Huskies have given up four goals or more in four of their six losses, including a 6-0 defeat at Endicott on September 25.  The Gulls visit Roger Williams University (7-4, 1-0 CNE) on the same day at 12:00 p.m.