KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College field hockey team turned what might have been building toward a frustrating night, held scoreless until the fourth quarter with less than seven minutes to go, into another productive one on the young season Thursday night – and they did so in the blink of an eye to win their fourth straight.  Two penalty corner chances less than a minute apart midway through the fourth quarter helped the Owls cash in twice, and KSC went on to post a 2-0 victory over New England College in non-conference action at the Owl Athletic Complex.

The Owls (4-0) had outshot the Pilgrims (3-1) 9-1 in the opening quarter, had six penalty corners in that period, and had a penalty stroke, but could not convert any of those chances and despite a territorial edge were locked in a scoreless game at the break for the first time on the season.  In their previous three games this year, KSC came out scorching, piling on nine first half goals while dominating their opponents by an aggregate 13-1 total overall.

Even while the offense was searching, the Owls had the ability to rely on a defense that has now posted a shutout in three of their first four games and limited NEC to only four shots, one in the final 30 minutes.  Still 0-0, the Pilgrims had a corner with 10:25 to go looking to take the lead, but Demetria Gonzalez came charging out of the cage on the insert and disrupted the play before it could even develop.

Moments later, KSC made the final two of their 16 corner chances count to pull out a win.  In the 54th minute, Molly Murray inserted a corner to the top of the circle where the Owls passed in a zig-zag before Irini Stefanakos had the ball in the middle and fired into traffic around NEC keeper Makenzie Anderson.  Grace Seabury had an initial tip that multiple Owls were still there to redirect, and it ended up finding the stick of a falling Kalina Piasecki by the right post to put Keene State up 1-0 with 6:58 left.

It did not take long at all for the lead to double, and the air to come fully out of the balloon for New England College.  Murray again began another corner play with just over six minutes to go, finding Meg Goodwin beyond the top of the circle, who again bumped the ball over to Stefanakos just inside the circle.  The Owl senior, now fifth on the all-time career points list and with two more helpers on the night, fired into the middle and after another slight deflection, Murray was in the right place at the right time by the left post to pot it for a 2-0 lead.

Keene State locked it down from there, and outshot NEC 18-4 overall while enjoying a 16-6 advantage in corners.

For a long time, it seemed as though it might be the fourth consecutive overtime game between the two sides (with the Pilgrims winning two of the three), but KSC had other ideas.  The Owls are 15-7 overall in the series including winning eight of 11 at home.  They are also 4-0 for the first time since the 2018 season, when they outscored their opening four opponents by a 15-5 margin.

The Owls now have six different goal scorers through four contests, with Grace Bazin leading the way with six goals while Stefanakos has five assists.

KSC has a quick turnaround, visiting Fitchburg State University (0-4) on Saturday night (September 14) at 5:00 p.m.  New England College hosts Dean College (2-3) in a GNAC matchup on the same day at 11:00 a.m.