KEENE, N.H. – Irini Stefanakos, Grace Bazin, and Jennifer Erikson all scored within 8:17 of each other in a stirring span in the fourth quarter as the Keene State College field hockey team blitzed to another appearance in the Little East Conference tournament championship game, upending Plymouth State University 4-2 in a semifinal round matchup at the Owl Athletic Complex Thursday evening.

Highlights
Postgame Interview (Amy Watson)
Postgame Interview (Irini Stefanakos)

The Owls (15-6), who had entered having scored one goal or less in their final four games, were seeming to be headed in that direction one more time – but a stellar individual effort from Meghan Daileanes to beat several defenders and set up Stefanakos for the tying goal that made it 2-2 in the 47th minute proved to be the spark of a KSC barrage that will have them playing in the conference title game for a remarkable 22nd time since 1998.  The Owls will be looking to end a three-game losing streak in LEC title games, having been shut out in each of the last three (the last two, including last year's decision at the University of Southern Maine, in 1-0 fashion), when they visit Vermont State University Castleton on Saturday.  The top-seeded Spartans scored twice late, including the tying goal with a second left in the third quarter, to ward off upset-minded No. 5 seed University of Southern Maine 2-1 on their home turf.  KSC will be looking to hand Castleton a dose of revenge after dropping the regular season meeting 6-1 on October 22 in Vermont.  The Spartans blew that game open by scoring four times in the final 20 minutes.

Today, it was all Keene State down the stretch, and it was a balanced attack that featured four different goal scorers that propelled them to a victory.  After Stefanakos tied it with 13:43 to go, KSC broke up a Plymouth corner chance four minutes later when an aggressive Alessandra Vidal charged out to deny an opportunity from forming.  That wound up being PSU's lone chance of the final 15 minutes.  KSC outshot the visitors 8-0 in the period and limited them to just that one corner chance that was quickly snuffed out.

It was more tenacious pressure from the Owls that set up a transition chance for the go-ahead goal with 8:02 left.  The push began when Hannah Wood pickpocketed Sarah Adamske up the left side and got the ball to Kaitlyn Castriotta, who found Grace Seabury rushing up the right sideline.  The Owl sophomore pushed unimpeded nearly half a field length and moved into the circle to Plymouth goalkeeper Kayla Antonucci's left.  Antonucci kicked out Seabury's initial attempt toward Bazin by the far post, but it came right back to Seabury, who did connect with Bazin on the second try.  The Owls' leading goal scorer saw her first bid kept out when Mackenzie Labrie got a piece of it with her stick at the last second, but much like Seabury, was there to pot the rebound when it came right back to her as KSC went up 3-2 with 8:06 left.

Another rush up the right sideline helped fuel an insurance goal not long after the Owls took the lead.  Daileanes corralled the ball on KSC's defensive side of the field following

a Panther turnover and found Erikson creating a chance.  Erikson got the ball back to Daileanes as she entered the circle and fired on Antonucci.  The Panthers had a hard time getting the ball out of their circle as KSC amped up the pressure, and although Emma Lord pestered Daileanes' centering feed, Erikson was right there on the mid-range flank of the circle to extend the Owls' lead to 4-2 with an important insurance tally.

That was more than enough for the home team, who outshot PSU 9-2 in the second half overall to up their home record to the same 9-2.

The Panthers had only six shots in the game, though two of them found the back of the cage – one in the blink of an eye after the began as Taylor Healey scored 34 seconds in.  Molly Murray responded in the sixth minute to quickly tie the game for KSC, but those would wind up being the only goals of the first half as it was 1-1 heading to the locker rooms.  Plymouth again took the lead when Jenna Stowell scored on a bouncer from far out following a restart in the 44th minute, but that lead lasted an even shorter 3:04 after their 1-0 lead was held for only 4:45.

The Owls have now won 12 of the 13 all-time playoff meetings, including an eerily similar result to that of a season ago in the semifinals when KSC trailed 3-2 at the break before scoring twice in 14 minutes in the second to take the lead for good.  Plymouth is 1-23 since 1997 at the Owl Athletic Complex.

Saturday's title fight between KSC and the Spartans will begin at 5:00 p.m. at Dave Wolk Stadium.  Keene State won the 2018 LEC title 2-1 on that field, outshooting Castleton 19-4 overall and 12-0 in the second half.