KEENE, N.H. — Having just defeated Eastern Connecticut State University in their previous game on Saturday afternoon, 14-6, to end the regular season, the Keene State College women's lacrosse team took on the Warriors at home on Thursday night with an opportunity to host the Little East Conference Tournament Championship on the line. After the Owls allowed the first goal, they responded with six consecutive of their own and they never looked back, as KSC picked up the 16-8 victory and will host the LEC Championship for the first time since 2016.

Records

• Keene State: 12-5 (5-2 LEC)
• Eastern Connecticut State: 9-9 (5-2 LEC)

How it Happened


Both teams scored a goal in the opening minute of the contest, as Abby Parisi scored a free position goal for the Warriors, 20 second in, and then 24 seconds later, Lola Smith assisted Haile Ratajack to tie the game up at one apiece. Over the next 6:36, the Owls tacked on five more goals in a row, with the first of the bunch coming after the Owls defense caused a possession clock violation on the Warriors. Shortly after, on the other end of the field, Tess Brown put KSC up a goal, from an assist from Hannah Dworkin, as she became the third Owl in program history to record 100 career assists. Dworkin picked up assist number 101, just 25 seconds later, as Chase Gengras scored her first goal of the game. The Owls scored their fourth goal in a row after Ratajack caused a turnover on defense, that led to Lola Smith weaving through the ECSU defenders and firing a shot into the back of the net to put KSC up by three. After Mindy St. Marie scored to put KSC up 5-1, Tess Brown assisted Ratajack for a man-down goal to put the Owls up 6-1 with 7:40 remaining in the opening quarter. Parisi won the ensuing draw control for the Warriors, which resulted in them finally putting an end to the Owls' scoring streak, on a man-up goal from Jessie Pyrek-Bennett. 1:13 later, KSC responded right back with another goal, as Lola Smith and Tess Brown each picked up their third points of the game, when Smith assisted Brown to put KSC back up by five, following a turnover caused by Brown on defense for the Owls. The Warriors were able to get four shots on target through the remainder of the quarter, and the Owls' goalkeeper, Mabelle Bessette was able to save the first two, with the first being a free position shot saved. The third was able to sneak past her, as Alexa Vizzini made the score 7-3, but Bessette was able to limit it there, as with just one second remaining on the clock, she made a save to preserve the Owls' four-goal lead heading into the second.
 
Gengras scored the first goal of the second quarter, 46 second into it, to put KSC up 8-3. The Warriors scored a pair of goals over the next seven minutes, as Neely Hart and Katie Campbell brought ECSU within three goals with 6:45 remaining in the first half. After the Owls called a timeout to kill the Warriors' momentum, Brown won the ensuing draw control, and then 19 second later, increased KSC's lead back to four with a goal. Chloe Miller scored ECSU's final goal of the quarter with 4:10 remaining, after the Warriors' goalkeeper, Mackenzie Brown, made a pair of saves in net. KSC scored the final two goals of the first half, thanks to Tess Brown winning the draw control for KSC and then scoring a goal from St. Marie shortly after. Then, following a save in net by Bessette, and a shot from St. Marie ringing off the crossbar, Ratajack scored off an assist from Gengras, which moved Ratajack into tied for the second most points in a career for an Owl, as she tied Michelle Mason (2002, 2004-2005), with 283 in her career, and gave KSC the 11-6 lead heading into the second half.
 
Ratajack picked up making just of big of an impact to end the first half, to start the second half, as she caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to Hayden Smith scoring a man-up goal for KSC, from Gengras, on the other end of the field with 13:18 remaining in the quarter. Through the remainder of the third only one more goal would be scored, as Brown made four saves in net for the Warriors and Bessette made three saves for the Owls, and the final goal of the quarter came from Vizzini, to make the score 12-7 for the Owls heading into what would be the final 15 minutes of play in the season for one of the teams.
 
The Owls went into the fourth quarter and dominated, as they got six shots on goal before the Warriors were able to get one of their own. After Brown saved the first of the six, on a free position shot from St. Marie, St. Marie caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to Amethyst Phelps assisting Chase Gengras for the Owls' 13th goal of the day. For the next four shots on goal for the Owls, Brown was able to save the first two, but she was unable to save the third and fourth, as they both resulted in goals for the Owls, coming from Dworkin and Ratajack. Ratajack's goal gave the Owls a 15-7 lead with 6:37 remaining, and moved her up in the record books in a few different categories, which include the second most points for an Owls in a career, (285 points from 233 goals and 52 assists), tied for the most goals in a season for an Owl (70 goals tied Mason in 2005), and she now has the fifth most points in a single season for an Owls (85 points from 70 goals and 15 assists, ties Lauren Sawyer from 2009). The Warriors tried to mount a comeback attempt as Campbell scored her second of the game with 5:49 remaining, but the Owls didn't allow it to happen. Brown scored her game-high fifth goal with 4:15 remaining, after she had caused a turnover on defense for KSC. While Bessette and the Owls' defense shut down the Warriors, as she made a pair of saves the rest of the way, enroute to the Owls 16-8 win to move onto the LEC Championship game.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, the Owls improve to 18-19 in the all-time series between the two schools. KSC has won the nine most recent meetings between the two schools by a combined score of 163-96.
• Brown followed up her five-goal game on Saturday against the Warriors, with another game-high of five goals, to go with an assist, for a game-high six points.
• Gengras had a massive game for KSC as well on the attack, as she recorded a career-high of five points, coming from three goals and a pair of assists in the win.
• Bessette made 10 saves in net, while allowing eight goals, while Brown made 13 saves for the Warriors, but allowing 16 goals.
• Both teams split the draw controls 13 apiece.

 
Up Next


Keene State will next play at home in the LEC Championship on Saturday afternoon (May 4), at 3:00 PM against Plymouth State University. The last time the Owls hosted an LEC Championship game was against PSU, as well, as they beat the Panthers 11-8 in 2016.