CASTLETON, VT.— The Keene State College women's lacrosse team looked to start up another win streak on Tuesday night as they traveled to take on Vermont State University Castleton, after suffering their first LEC loss of their 2024 season on Saturday to Western Connecticut State University. After taking a three-goal lead into the half, the Owls outscored the Spartans, 12-2 in the second half, giving them a 22-9 victory on the day.

Records

• Keene State: 8-4 (3-1 LEC)
• Vermont State Castleton: 2-11 (1-3 LEC)

How it Happened


Lola Smith got the Owls on the board first in the contest, as just 62 seconds into the game, she scored a free position goal to put the Owls up one. Phoebe Loomis responded back with a goal for VTSU with 11:45 remaining in the first. The Owls once again took the lead a 2:16 later, as Tess Brown showed off her skills on both sides of the field, as she caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, and then shortly after scored a goal to put KSC up 2-1. Megan Ward evened the game up at two with 8:22 left in the opening quarter, as she netted a goal for the Spartans. KSC went on to score four unanswered goals the rest of the quarter, as Haile Ratajack netted her first goal of the game, on a free position shot, 1:21 after Ward's for the first of the four. After Mabelle Bessette made a save in net for the Owls, Mindy St. Marie scored the second of the four for KSC. Ratajack won the ensuing draw control, and Brown netted the third of the four, 28 seconds after St. Marie's goal. The final goal of the quarter game from St. Marie after the won the draw control and netted a free position goal, 51 seconds after Brown's previous goal. KSC held onto their 6-2 lead heading into the second quarter, thanks to Riley Devine causing a turnover on defense as the time was expiring at the end of the quarter.

The Owls increased their consecutive goals to seven straight goals, as they scored three more goals to open the second quarter, largely due to Brown. After she caused a turnover on the Spartans' first possession of the quarter, she picked up an assist by sending a pass over to Amethyst Phelps, who put KSC up by 5, only 49 seconds into the quarter. Brown won the ensuing draw control for the Owls, which led to Hannah Dworkin scoring goal number 6 of the year, 46 seconds after Phelps' goal. Shortly after, Brown once again caused a turnover for KSC, and it led to her scoring KSC's ninth goal of the game. Gianna Geraci cut the Owls' lead to six as she scored a goal for VTSU 29 seconds later, but KSC increased it right back to seven after Ratajack caused a turnover on defense, that led to Chase Gengras scoring her tenth goal of the season, with 7:18 remaining in the half. By halftime, the Spartans were able to cut the Owls' lead to three, as VTSU scored four consecutive goals the rest of the half, coming from a pair of goals from Ward, a man-up goal from Kailyn August, and a man-up goal from Renny Cota, which brought the score to 10-7 for the Owls heading into the half.
 
The Owls opened the third quarter by netting a pair of goals in the opening 2:16 of the quarter, as Lola Smith opened the scoring in the second half, just as she did in the first (this time from a man-up goal), and the other goal coming from another free position goal from Ratajack. After Bessette made a save on a free position shot, it eventually led to Brown assisting Ratajack for her second consecutive goal for KSC, with 4:26 left in the quarter. 56 seconds later, Ward scored a free position goal for the Spartans, for what would be their only goal of the quarter. 39 seconds after Ward's goal, Lola Smith assisted Ratajack for her third goal of the quarter, and then with just 18 seconds remaining in the third, Phelps scored another goal, to increase the Owls' lead to 15-8 over the Spartans heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
The Owls did not let off the gas in the fourth, as they scored five consecutive goals to open the quarter, with the first coming from St. Marie on a man-up free position goal, 1:09 into the quarter. The fifth-year duo of Ratajack and St. Marie scored the next two goals for the Owls, as Lola Smith assisted on Ratajack's goal and then St. Marie netted a man-up free position goal to increase the Owls' lead to 10 with 10:07 left to play. KSC added another pair of goals over the ensuing 3:03, thanks to another goal from each Brown and Ratajack (free position goal). With 4:34 remaining in the contest, the Spartans scored their final goal of the game, as Loomis scored for VTSU. Through the remainder of the game, Hayden Smith continued to be extremely efficient and make her shots count, as she took two shot attempts, both of which resulted on goals for the Owls. With Dworkin assisting on the first of the pair, and Phelps assisting on the second, KSC cruised to a 22-9 victory over the Spartans.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, the Owls improve to 21-1 in the all-time series against the Spartans, having won the previous nine meetings by a combined score of 147-69.
• Ratajack and Brown each tallied a game-high of six points apiece, with Ratajack scoring six goals and Brown logging four goals and a pair of assists. 
• Brown also led the Owls on defense, as she had a game-high of five caused turnovers, to go with a game-high of seven ground balls, and three draw control wins for KSC.
• St. Marie finished with a game-high five draw control wins for KSC, which moved her into tied for the second most in a career in KSC women's lacrosse program history, as she has recorded 198 draw control wins over her career for the Owls.
• The Owls went 7-for-8 on free position shots, with Ratajack and St. Marie each going 3-for-3, and Lola Smith picking up the other free position goal. Ratajack increased her lead in first place for the most free position goals in a career for an Owl to 34 free position goals, while St. Marie's three free position goals in the game, moved her into sole possession of fifth place for the most free position goals, with 27.
• The Owls went 17-21 on clears, while VTSU went 9-16.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be back at home in less than 24 hours, as they will host Fitchburg State University, in a game that was rescheduled from earlier in the season, on Wednesday, April 17, at 6:00 PM.
Vermont State Castleton will next play on Saturday, April 20, at 2:00 PM, as they will travel to take on another LEC opponent, Western Connecticut State.