KEENE, N.H.— The Keene State College Women's lacrosse team hosted Fitchburg State University on Wednesday night at the Owls Athletic Complex, as they looked to wrap up their 2024 non-conference schedule on a high note. The Owls did exactly that, as they took down the Spartans, 21-11, as they finished their non-conference schedule with a 6-3 record.

Records

• Keene State: 9-4 (3-1 LEC)
• Fitchburg State: 6-8 (0-3 MASCAC)

Postgame Interview (Coach Wyant)
Postgame Interview (Tess Brown)

How It Happened
KSC outscored the Falcons, 9-1 in the opening quarter, as they scored eight straight, before FSU was able to get a goal of their own. Lola Smith opened the scoring 2:24 into the quarter, and just 35 second later, Tess Brown tallied another goal for the Owls, to put KSC up a pair. Following a save in net from Owls' goalkeeper, and a caused turnover on defense by Elle Lyons, KSC added another goal, as Hannah Dworkin assisted Haile Ratajack for her first goal of the game. Brown scored her second of the game, 48 seconds after Ratajack's goal, to put KSC ahead 4-0 with 8:50 remaining in the opening quarter. Dworkin and Ratajack each picked up a pair of points for the next two KSC goals, as (after a caused turnover from Lola Smith) Dworkin assisted Ratajack for the fifth Owl goal, and after a caused turnover from Ratajack, she assisted Dworkin for the sixth KSC goal. Ratajack scored her third goal of the opening quarter, which was assisted by Mindy St. Marie, and 55 second later, and after St. Marie won the ensuing draw control to become the second Owl to reach 200 draw control wins in her career, she tallied her first goal of the game, as Dworkin picked up the assist. Each team scored one goal the rest of the opening quarter, as Nicole Orlowski scored the Falcons' first goal, and Chase Gengras scored her first of the game, to put the Owls up 9-1 heading into the second, after Hayden Smith caused a turnover for the Owls.
 
As Sarah Howe entered as goalkeeper for Owls at the start of the quarter, KSC opened the scoring in the second quarter, as Riley Devine netted a goal, following a caused turnover from Tess Brown. FSU added a pair of pair of goals over the next 3:40, as Alexis Raymond and Abaigeal Doheny. A minute after Doheny's goal, Brown assisted Gengras to put KSC back up 11-3. As the first half started to come to a close, FSU scored three consecutive goals, all of which were man-down goals, as Ponder, Orlowski, and Samantha Azzari each scored, to bring the Falcons to within five with 1:56 left in half. After Bessette entered the net for the remainder of the contest, Ratajack picked up an assist on the final goal of the quarter, 19 seconds after Azzari's, as St. Marie helped double up the Falcons, 12-6, heading into the second half.
 
Ratajack opened the scoring in the third with a man-up goal, just 40 second into play, as the Owls capitalized on a yellow card against the Falcons at the end of the first half. 1:01 after Ratajack's goal, FSU answered back thanks to Ponder tallying another goal, as the Falcons tried to cut into KSC's lead. The teams once again traded goals over the next six minutes, as Annaliese Rudberg weaved through the Falcon defenders and scored, after Tess Brown caused a turnover on defense for KSC, and shortly after, FSU responded back with another goal from Orlowski, this time a man-up goal, with 7:02 remaining in the third. Over the next 1:08, KSC won the ensuing three draw controls and scored three consecutive goals. St. Marie scored the first of the three, a free position goal, and just 10 seconds later, after Brown won the draw control, she scored another goal for the Owls. KSC increased their lead to nine with the third of the three goals, this time coming from Gengras again, as Lola Smith picked up the assist. Ratajack's play on both ends of the field helped make it four consecutive goals for the Owls, to increase their lead to 10 heading into the final 15 minutes of play; she caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball on defense, then shortly after scored on the attack for KSC with 39 seconds remaining in the quarter, which put them up 18-8 heading into the fourth.
 
After few attempts through the beginning of the game were either saved or just narrowly missed the net, Brown was finally able to sneak the behind the back shot into the back of the net for the Owls, which opened the scoring in the final quarter. After Lyons caused a turnover on defense, KSC scored their twentieth goal of the game, as Rudberg assisted the always efficient Hayden Smith for the goal, who now has 11 goals on 13 shot attempts in her first 13 collegiate games. FSU responded with three consecutive goals, as Raymond scored another, followed by a free position goal from Orlowski, and another from Raymond to stop the running clock with 59 seconds left. 20 seconds later, Devine tallied the final goal of the game, as Lola Smith assisted her on what ended up being the final play of the game, giving the Owls the 21-11 victory over the Falcons.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, the Owls move to 2-0 against the Falcons in the all-time series, with the only other meeting being a 16-1 win for KSC on March 13, 2008.
• Ratajack led all scorers, as her game-high of seven points came from a game-high of five shots and a pair of assists.
• Dworkin finished with a goal and a game-high of three assists, as she now sits at 90 assists throughout her career for the Owls.
• Eight different Owls caused a turnover in the victory, as Ratajack and Brown led the way with four apiece.
• St. Marie's three draw control wins moved her into sole possession of career draw control wins, with 201. She is currently 23 away from breaking Jamie Albert's record of 223 draw control wins for the Owls from 2008-2011.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be back on the road for LEC play, as they will travel to Plymouth State University and aim to snap their nine-game losing streak to the Panthers on Saturday, April 20, at 2:00 PM.
Fitchburg State will be on the road for the third time, out of their four straight road games in their next contest, as they will return to MASCAC play and take on Westfield State University on Friday, April 19, at 7:00 PM.