KEENE, N.H.— The Keene State College women's lacrosse team returned home on Thursday night, as they looked to end their three-game losing streak, following their best start in program history (4-0), with a win against New England College. Keene State fifth-year, Haile Ratajack, outscored the Pilgrims herself, as she tallied six goals in the contest, enroute to the Owls 16-4 win over NEC.

Records

• Keene State: 5-3
• New England College: 3-4

Postgame Interview (Coach Wyant)
Postgame Interview (Mabelle Bessette)

How It Happened
Just as they have done in their seven previous games to start the season, the Owls struck first, as Tess Brown netted a free position goal just 32 seconds into the contest. A couple minutes later, with 10:49 remaining in the opening quarter, the Pilgrims tied the game at one apiece, as Mackenzie McDonald assisted Meadow Gilchrist for the tying goal. 58 seconds later, Ratajack gave the Owls the lead back with her first goal of the game, coming on a free position shot, to move into sole possession of fifth place in career points in KSC women's lacrosse program history, with 232 career points. Mabelle Bessette made her first two saves of the game two minutes later for the Owls, on back-to-back shots over seven seconds from the Pilgrims. After NEC was able to get the rebound again, Brown caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to Lola Smith assisting Ratajack on a goal on the other end of the field to put KSC up 3-1. Carleigh Knotts, the goalkeeper for the Pilgrims, made a pair of saves in net, but following a caused turnover from Mindy St. Marie, the Owls tallied the final goal of the first quarter, as Hannah Dworkin assisted Smith for the goal.
 
KSC opened the scoring with their fourth consecutive goal with a free position goal from Amethyst Phelps, 50 seconds into the second quarter. The Pilgrims cut the Owls' lead in half with their only goal of the second quarter, 3:06 into the quarter, with a goal from Cassie Kelly. Through the rest of the opening half, KSC recorded six shots on target, four of which Knotts made saves on, but the other two found the back of the net, as St. Marie scored a man-up, free position goal with 9:44 left in the half. The final goal of the half came from Dworkin on a free position goal, giving KSC the 7-4 lead heading into halftime. The Owls held the Pilgrims to just two goals in the opening 30 minutes of play, as Bessette recorded a pair of saves (one free position shot saved) after allowing the second Pilgrims' goal.
 
The Owls followed their two consecutive goals at the end of the second quarter, by scoring six unanswered goals through the entirety of the third quarter. The first of the six goals for KSC came from Smith, as the Owls got possession of the ball thanks to her causing a turnover on a NEC clear attempt, which eventually led to her scoring from Dworkin. Ratajack won the ensuing draw control and 53 seconds later, St. Marie added another goal. Alexis Phyllides caused a turnover following NEC winning the next draw, which led to Dworkin finding Ratajack for a goal with 9:32 remaining in the quarter. 40 seconds later, following a draw control win from St. Marie, Smith added another assist by sending a pass over to Brown, who increased the Owls' lead to nine with a goal. The only two shot attempts from NEC in the third came with just under five minutes remaining in the quarter, due to a shot ringing off the post and Bessette making a save on the other attempt. The Owls' second to last goal of the quarter came due to Riley Devine picking off a pass from the Pilgrims on a clear attempt, which led to Annaliese Rudberg scoring shortly after. With 1:01 remaining, Ratajack tallied her fourth goal of the game, giving KSC a 13-2 lead heading into the final quarter, with Phelps picking up the assist.
 
Natalie Antigua scored the opening goal in the fourth quarter, a man-up goal, that ended the Owls' 12 consecutive goal streak. Soon after, Makennah McPherson picked up an assist on another goal from Ratajack, which gave Ratajack her 236th career point, placing her in fourth place for career points in KSC women's lacrosse program history (193 goals, 44 assists). After entering as goalkeeper at the end of the third quarter for the Owls, Sarah Howe made a pair of saves in net for KSC, which led to Phelps assisting Smith on another goal for KSC. Both teams traded goals over the next few minutes, as Jacqueline Nee scored for the Pilgrims, and Ratajack scored for the Owls (assisted by Dworkin), keeping the score differential at 12 goals for KSC with 5:50 remaining in the contest. The 16-4 score held the rest of the way, as Knotts made a save for NEC and Howe made a pair of saves, including a free position shot attempt saved, giving the Owls the commanding win over the Pilgrims. 
 
Inside the Crease

• KSC improved to 16-5 all-time against NEC, including having won the previous eight contests by an average of 12.25 goals.
• Ratajack continued to move up the record books with her six goals as she currently sits in fourth place for career points in program history, with 193 goals and 44 assists. Ratajack needs just 14 points to move into third place all-time in career points, and 10 goals to be the all-time leading goal scorer for KSC women's lacrosse.
• Smith and Dworkin both had big offensive games for the Owls, as well, as Smith finished with three goals and a pair of assists, and Dworkin had one goal and four assists. Dworkin currently sits in fourth place in career assists in program history, as she only needs two more to move into third place.
• Bessette and Howe each played a huge role in the Owls' win, as Bessette made 5 saves in her 41:18 played, and Howe made four saves in her 18:12 played. Knotts made 12 saves in net for the Pilgrims in the contest.
• KSC went nearly perfect on clears, as they went 17-19, compared to NEC going 8-15. The Owls also converted more free position attempts, going 5-7, compared to 0-4 from the Pilgrims.

 
Up Next

Keene State's next game will be back at home on Saturday, March 30, at 1:00 PM, as the Owls will kick off Little East Conference play against the University of Southern Maine.
New England College will travel to take on Rivier University for their next contest, as they will return to GNAC play on Saturday, March 30, at 12:00 PM.