KEENE, N.H. – The No. 4 seed Keene State College men's lacrosse team hosted the No. 5 seed Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday night in the Little East Conference Tournament Quarterfinal matchup, as they looked to take down the Warriors for the second time on the season. After a close first half, that saw the Owls take a two-goal lead into the half, they shut out the Warriors in the second and defeated them once again, this time by a score of 12-6. 

Records

• Keene State: 7-8 (5-3 LEC)
• Eastern Connecticut State: 6-11 (3-5 LEC)

Highlights
Postgame Interview (Coach Theriault)
Postgame Interview (Jeff Wiedenfeld)

How It Happened
The Owls got on the board first with a pair of goals in the opening 2:01 of play, as Rex Maccarini assisted Jack Ansart for the first, and then following a save in net from KSC's goalkeeper, Charlie Giuliotti, the Owls scored on the other end of the field thanks to Andrew Miller assisting Jeff Wiedenfeld to put KSC up 2-0. ECSU answered back with a pair of goals of their own as Tanner Drobish scored nearly two minutes later and then with 5:11 remaining in the opening quarter, Mike Stevenson tied the game up at two apiece for the Warriors. Through the remainder of the quarter, the Warriors' goalkeeper, Gregory Hilinski, faced six shots on goal. Luckily for the Owls, they were able to get at least one past him, as he saved five of the six shots, as Miller assisted Tim Souza to put KSC back up, 3-2, heading into the second quarter.
 
KSC started the second quarter just like the first, as they opened the quarter with an early pair of goals, this time coming from Giacomo Tedone and the other from Dylan Seymour assisting Ansart to put KSC up by three, just 100 seconds into the quarter. After Andrew Pendagast scored for the Warriors to bring them within two goals a few minutes later, KSC increased their lead to four, with Miller once again picking up the assist on a goal to Wiedenfeld, and then following a faceoff win by Gabe Pereira, Miller scored his first of the game to put KSC up 7-3. After Hilinski was able to save the next shot from KSC, the Warriors went on a three-goal run to pull within a goal of the Owls. The first of the three came from Sean Filley, while the second was a man-up goal, from Gabe Roman, and the final of the three was scored by Brycen Kennedy. It looked as if the Owls would take their one-goal lead into the half, but with just three second left, Seymour assisted Maccarini to put KSC up a pair and give them an 8-6 lead heading into the half.
 
Only one goal was scored through the entire third quarter, as following a save from Giuliotti in net, Maccarini gave the Owls a nice lead, putting them up, 9-6. KSC was able to shut down the Warriors in the quarter, as Giuliotti made three saves in the quarter, the Owls caused four turnovers over the 15 minutes, and limited ECSU to going 4-for-7 on clears, as KSC held onto their 9-6 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
Just as KSC did in the third quarter, they held the Warriors scoreless in the fourth quarter, but this time the Owls scored three goals over the quarter. Wiedenfeld scored the first for the Owls, 2:22 into the fourth. While following a caused turnover by Colby Cala on defense for the Owls, Sebastian Foresi put the Owls up by five with 9:11 remaining. After Giuliotti made three saves in net for the Owls, Souza scored the final goal of the quarter to beat the shot clock. Both teams traded possession as the contest came to a close, but the Owls were able to hold off the Warriors' comeback attempt and hold then scoreless for the final 30:59 of play and secure the 12-6 victory.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, the Owls improve to 25-17 in the all-time series against the Warriors, having won the previous 16 meetings with an average goal differential of nearly 11 goals.
• Miller led all players with four points, coming from a goal and three assists, while Wiedenfeld scored a game-high of three goals for KSC.
• Giuliotti allowed only six goals in net, while making nine saves, compared to Hilinski making 14 saves on 12 goals allowed.
• The Owls outshot the Warriors, 50-28, and made only 15 turnovers, to 26 from ECSU.
• KSC only failed three clears, as they went 15-for-18, and ECSU failed seven clears and went 17-for-24.
• The Warriors went 1-for-5 on their extra-man opportunities, compared to KSC going 0-for-1 when their only attempt came at the end of the fourth quarter when they were draining the clock.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be on the road for the LEC Semifinal matchup against Western Connecticut State University at 6:30 PM on Thursday, May 2.