BOSTON, Mass. – The Keene State men's lacrosse team traveled to Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon for their third consecutive game against a Commonwealth Coast Conference Opponent to open their 2024 campaign. Keene State was unable to gain any momentum in the contest, as they were held to four goals, and the Leopards picked up their first win of 2024 by a score of 18-4.

Records

• Keene State: 0-3
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: 1-1

How it Happened

For the first time in a quarter so far in the 2024 season, the Owls were held scoreless in the opening quarter, as the Leopards outscored KSC, 4-0. Both goalkeepers, Charlie Giuliotti for KSC and Tom Gardner made a pair of saves to keep the game scoreless through the first five minutes, but Drew Bouley would open the scoring at the 9:56 mark in the first, coming from Colin Ocampo, and giving WIT the 1-0 lead. 1:15 later, WIT netted their second goal of the game, coming off Kobi Buffa assisting Logan Maklan for a goal. On the Leopards' next possession, Colby Cala forced a turnover on defense for the Owls as KSC tried to push the other way, but Gardner shut them down with another save to keep KSC off the board. A minute later, on the ensuing WIT possession, Tyler Longo netted the teams' third goal, putting them up 3-0 with 5:51 left in the first. Gardner continued to lock the Owls down, making a save in each of their next three possessions, which led to the fourth goal for WIT, as Dante Strong assisted Dryden Fisher for a goal. Giuliotti went on to make one more save in the quarter, limiting the score to 4-0 as the contest entered the second quarter.
 
Wentworth opened the second with another pair of goals, both in the first four minutes, from Longo and Brendan Kroll, making it six unanswered goals for the Leopards through the opening 19 minutes. Gardner made a pair of saves early in the second, but with 7:26 remaining in the quarter, the Owls were finally able to get a shot past him, as Ben Tukey netted his second goal of the season for KSC. Neither team scored the remainder of the quarter as Wentworth had five turnovers the rest of the quarter, one caused by Rex Maccarini of KSC, while Gardner made six more saves for the Leopards to keep the score 6-1 for WIT heading into halftime.
 
Keene State tried to mount a comeback in the second half and got off to a good start with Ty Cougler causing a turnover on defense for the Owls on the opening possession for WIT, followed by three shots on goal for KSC. Gardner made a save on the first two shots, but Jack Ansart fired the third of the three shots on goal past him for a KSC goal, coming from Giacomo Tedone for a man-up goal. Wentworth immediately shut down the Owls comeback attempt, as they responded with four goals of their own over the next 2:55 of play, with Jared Hiller netting a pair of goals, and Fisher and Connor Charron (eight seconds after winning the faceoff) scoring one goal apiece. Giuliotti made a save in net on the Leopards' next shot attempt, which led to Sebastian Foresi scoring for the Owls on the other end of the field with 7:16 left in the quarter. Once again, Wentworth responded to KSC's goal with even more goals, as Longo, Kroll, and Fisher each netted a goal over the next 3:41 of play to make the score 13-2 for WIT. Neither team scored during the rest of the quarter as WIT held on to their 11-goal lead into the fourth.
 
Wentworth opened the final quarter by building on their three unanswered goals to end the third by scoring five more goals until KSC was able to net their only goal of the quarter, with 1:46 left. Ryan Valentine entered the game as goalkeeper with three minutes remaining in the third quarter and made a save on the first shot on goal that he faced at the 12:40 mark in the fourth. 1:20 later, WIT netted their first goal of the quarter, from Maklan, followed by another goal from Hiller, just eight seconds later after Connor Charron won the faceoff for the Leopards. WIT went on to score three more goals on the contest, with Ocampo scoring his first of the game to go with his three assists, while Gabe Cobham and Bryce Kubas each scored their first goals of the season for the Leopards. Gardner made two saves throughout the final quarter, looking to not allow KSC to score in a quarter for the second time, but with 1:46 left in the contest, Dylan Seymour assisted Tedone for the final goal by either team in the contest.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, Wentworth evened the all-time series between the programs at one apiece, with the only previous meeting between the two schools being a near opposite score of the most recent game, as KSC previously won, 18-3, back on May 7, 2003.
• The four goals in a game are the least amount scored in a contest for the Owls since the final game of the shortened 2020 season, (shortened season due to the Covid-19 pandemic), which was a 14-4 loss to Bates on March 4, 2020; the game was also the last time the Owls were held to one goal in either half, before the recent game vs. WIT.
• Gardener made a career-high of 20 saves in net for the Leopards, in his first career win; over the past two games Gardener has made 34 saves in net and allowed 22 goals.
• Giuliotti finished with six saves across 41:53 played, and Ryan Valentine added a pair of saves in the remainder of the contest.
• Keene State performed better on clears, going 22-24 (91.7%), to Wentworth's 26-32 (81.3%), scored one man-up goal (1-4) to WIT's none (0-8), and had fewer turnovers (18 to WIT's 23).
• Tedone led KSC with a pair of points in the contest, coming from each a goal and assist
• 15 different members of Wentworth's roster tallied a point, to just five from KSC.

 
Up Next

Keene State's next game will be on the road against Vassar College on Wednesday, February 28, at 6:00 PM.
Wentworth will also next play on Wednesday, February 28, at 6:00 PM, as they will host Russel Sage.