KEENE, N.H.— The Keene State College women's lacrosse team kicked off Little East Conference play on Saturday afternoon as they hosted the University of Southern Maine Huskies. The Owls prevailed in a defensive battle, and took down the Huskies, 10-9, in the back-and-forth contest. 

Records

• Keene State: 6-3 (1-0 LEC)
• Southern Maine 3-3 (0-1 LEC)

Postgame Interview (Coach Wyant)
Postgame Interview (Haile Ratajack)

How It Happened
For the first time to open a game in their 2024 season, the Owls did not score first, as Catriona Gould got the Huskies on the board with a goal, 3:55 into the contest. Cece Racine played a huge role in the Huskies' tough defense as the goalkeeper stopped the first three shot attempts from KSC to first nine minutes of the contest. Following a save from KSC goalkeeper, Mabelle Bessette, on a free position shot, the Owls tied the game up at one a piece a few minutes later as Amethyst Phelps scored for the Owls, off an assist from Tess Brown with 1:20 left in the first. 62 seconds later, Phelps gave KSC the lead, she fired a shot past Racine on a free position attempt, giving the Owls the 2-1 lead that they would take into the second quarter.
 
USM answered right back to Phelps' pair of goals in the closing minutes of the first by scoring three goals in the opening 3:19 of the second, giving them a 4-2 lead. After the Huskies won the opening two draw controls, which resulted in goals from Rachel Shanks and Paige Rinaldi (free position goal), KSC won the ensuing draw. Racine made a pair of saves in net for USM on the following KSC possession, which led to USM's fourth goal of the day, coming from Anna Byers. After five saves in net from Racine, KSC netted their first goal of the second quarter, with 6:58 remaining in the quarter, as Brown caused a turnover on defense, which led to a free position attempt from Mindy St. Marie on the attack a minute later. On the whistle, St. Marie charged towards the net and fired a shot around Racine that found the back of the net for her 100th career goal for KSC, becoming just the 19th member in program history to reach the mark. USM answered right back to the milestone goal with a goal of their own, just 35 seconds later, as Shanks scored a free position goal, giving the Huskies a 5-3 lead with 6:23 remaining in the opening half. The Owls evened the game up at five apiece heading into halftime, as Haile Ratajack scored a pair of goals (with Chase Gengras assisting the first) in the final 4:08 of the opening half.
 
KSC took advantage of a yellow card on the Huskies at the end of the first half, as Ratajack scored her third consecutive goal of the contest for KSC by scoring a man-up goal, 1:11 into the third quarter to retake the lead. Just like KSC's lead at the end of the first quarter and into the second, USM did not let the Owls hold the lead for too long, as Raegan Bechard scored a free position goal a minute after Ratajack's goal, to even the score up at six apiece. After Byers gave the Huskies the lead back two minutes later, Brown won the following draw control for the Owls, which led to her picking up an assist on a man-up goal by Phelps, tying the game back up, at seven to seven. Both defenses continued to slow down the opposing offenses, as the final two goals were not scored until with 1:22 left in the third. Julia McKenna put the Huskies back up by a goal, but Ratajack answered right back for KSC with a goal, just 28 seconds later, following a draw control win by St. Marie. The score held at 8-8 as the teams headed into the final 15 minutes of play, thanks to a save by Bessette in the closing seconds of the quarter.
 
In the defensive battle to open the final quarter, neither team scored until there was 7:53 remaining to play, as St. Marie caused a turnover on defense for KSC, which led to Ratajack scoring a free position goal for the Owls. The Huskies once again answered right back by scoring a goal only 50 seconds later, as Elaina Hanselmann tied the game up at nine apiece. Both teams continued to trade possessions throughout the quarter, Ratajack found a cutting Brown towards the net, who would catch the pass and fire a shot past Racine to give KSC the 10-9 lead with only 3:53 left to play. The Owls were able to hold off the Huskies through the rest of the contest, as they drained the clock and then with 40 seconds remaining, Ratajack caused a turnover on the Huskies, the 200th of her career, as the Owls held on for the one goal win to improve to 1-0 in LEC play.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, the Owls improve to 25-8 all time against the Huskies.
• Ratajack continued to increase her record for most caused turnovers in a career in program history, as she tallied four caused turnovers, including number 200 of her career. Her teammate, Brown, had a game-high of six caused turnovers in the win.
• Ratajack led all scorers with six points, coming from five goals and an assist. She currently sits at 198 career goals for the Owls, good for second place all time and only five away from passing Michelle Mason, who has 202 career goals.
• St. Marie moved into tied for the 20th most points in a career in program history, with 127 points (100 goals, 27 assists) as she tallied her 100th goal today.
• After entering the game with three goals scored so far across the previous seven games to open the season, Phelps was a huge factor for the Owls in the win, as she scored a career-high of three goals. Phelps has tallied seven points across the three games, including back-to-back three-point games.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be on the road for their first away LEC matchup of the year, as they will take on Rhode Island College on Saturday, April 6, 11:00 AM.
The Huskies next contest will be against Colby College, at home, on Wednesday, April 3, at 6:00 PM.