KEENE, N.H.— The Keene State College women's lacrosse team returned home on Saturday for another Little East Conference matchup, as both teams, the Owls, and the visiting Western Connecticut State University Wolves entered the day 2-0 in LEC play. After a close first half, the Wolves pulled away in the second half, and went back home with a 11-8 win over the Owls.

Records

• Keene State: 7-4 (2-1 LEC)
• Western Connecticut State: 8-5 (3-0 LEC)

Postgame Interview (Coach Wyant)

How It Happened
Western Connecticut State got on the board first in the contest, as Vicky Gracy scored, 5:13 into the opening quarter. Gracy's goal wound up being the only goal for WCSU in the opening quarter, as Mabelle Bessette, the Owls goalkeeper, saved the next two shots from the Wolves over the next few minutes. After Bessette made the pair of saves, one of the Owls' five seniors that were honored on senior day, Hannah Dworkin, got the crowd going as she tied the game up at one apiece from a goal with 5:43 left on the clock in the quarter. Haile Ratajack won the ensuing faceoff for KSC and just 42 seconds later, she put the Owls up a goal over the Wolves from a free position goal. Ratajack's free position goal was the 31st of her career, which moved her into sole possession of first place in program history for career free position goals, along with breaking the tie for third place in career points, as she reached 251 points (204 goals, 47 assists). Mindy St. Marie netted the final goal of the quarter, as she scored the third consecutive goal for KSC, just 47 seconds after Ratajack's, as KSC took their 3-1 lead into the second quarter. 
 
Both teams traded possessions through the beginning of the second quarter, and just as they did to open the first quarter, the Wolves scored first in the second quarter as Madison Ratchford's free position goal with 8:51 remaining in the quarter pulled WCSU within a goal of KSC. Katelyn Contreras knotted the game up at three, just 26 seconds later, as she scored a goal from Gracy. Bessette made a save on a free position attempt from Contreras, on the next shot attempt from WCSU, with 6:41 remaining in the first half. After both teams went back and forth trying to take the lead heading into halftime, Tess Brown caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to a goal from Lola Smith with 55 seconds left in the half and gave KSC the 4-3 halftime lead.
 
WCSU tied the game up at four, 1:28 into the second half, as they opened the scoring for the third consecutive quarter, this time coming from Isabella Pota. St. Marie won the ensuring draw control for KSC, which led to Gangras assisting Ratajack for the go-ahead goal, just 90 seconds after Pota's tying goal. Ratchford responded with 9:52 remaining in the quarter with another free position goal for the Wolves, to tie the game right back up. Dworkin helped the Owls with an assist on Brown's goal 35 seconds later, to retake the lead. Unfortunately for KSC, that was their final goal of the quarter, as WCSU scored the final three. Pota scored the first of the three, as she netted a man-up free position goal with 7:41 left in the third. Alexa Riggio scored the second, just over two minutes after Pota's to give the Wolves the lead back, and with 54 seconds remaining in the third, Faye Junge scored the Wolves third consecutive goal, to put them ahead 8-6 heading into the final 15 minutes of the contest.
 
After Bessette made a save on the first shot from the Wolves in the fourth, Ratajack netted her third goal of the game, to pull KSC within a goal of WCSU with 10:58 remaining. The one goal difference wound up being the closest that the Owls got to the Wolves the rest of the game, as just as they did to end the third quarter, WCSU scored three consecutive goals after Ratajack's to open the scoring in the fourth. Pota scored her third goal, 1:40 after Ratajack's goal, on a free position shot to increase the lead back to two. Following a timeout by the Wolves in transition, Ratchford also scored her third of the contest, with 5:52 remaining. WCSU increased their lead to four, the largest lead by either team in the game, off a goal from Savannah Kom, with 3:23 left in the quarter. KSC's comeback attempt came up short, as they were only able to muster one goal the rest of the contest. Following a caused turnover from Smith, Mindy St. Marie scored her second goal of the game, but the Wolves held off the Owls the rest of the way as KSC fell to WCSU, 11-8.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, the Owls still lead the all-time series between the two schools, 21-9, but the Wolves have answered back with seven consecutive wins, following 17 wins in a row for KSC.
• Ratajack led the Owls with three points on the day, all of which were goals, along with a game-high of four caused turnovers.
• St. Marie recorded a game-high of seven draw control wins, as she is now just seven away from 200 in her career at KSC.
• Bessette made seven saves in net for KSC, while Molly Bresnahan made six saves for WCSU.
• After tallying eight shots in the first quarter, the Owls were held to just nine over the following 45 minutes of play.
• KSC won the draw control battle, 15-8 over the Wolves.
• Along with Ratajack moving into first place in KSC women's lacrosse program history for free position goals, she also moved into first place for ground balls in a career, as her tied for a game-high of five ground balls (with her teammate, Tess Brown), gave her 232 career ground balls, surpassing Natalie Kent, who recorded 231 from 2001-2004.
• The Owls recognized their five seniors for senior day, as Ratajack, St. Marie, Dworkin, Elle Lyons, Alexis Phyllides, and student manager, Emelia Rowe were honored prior to the game.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be on the road on Tuesday, April 16, as they will travel to take on Vermont State University Castleton at 4:00 PM.
Western Connecticut State will also play on the road on Tuesday, April 16, for their next contest, as they will visit UMass-Dartmouth for a 7:00 PM matchup.