KEENE, N.H. – Sophomore forward Chase Carney continued his scoring binge from Thursday night with his first career hat trick as the Keene State College men's ice hockey team nabbed their first Little East Conference win in program history, beating Western Connecticut State University 5-4 at Keene Ice on Saturday afternoon.

Postgame Interview (Coach Rodrigue)
Postgame Interview (Chase Carney/Thor Hansen)

The Owls (4-2-0, 1-2-0 LEC) built a 2-0 lead in barely over six minutes only to see the Wolves (0-6-0, 0-3-0 LEC) answer by scoring three times in 4:28 shortly thereafter – but WestConn, a first-year program that helped formulate the LEC, could not contain Carney, who tied the game at three with 1:18 left in the first period and then twice gave the Owls the lead in the second period.

KSC nursed the lead in a scoreless third period behind 13 saves from Ben Skelton, who made 28 overall in the winning effort as the Owls rebounded from an 0-2 conference weekend that saw them score just one goal and lose 4-1 and 3-0.

Their offense has been humming since – and in particular Carney – who may be eyeing Little East Conference Player of the Week honors by scoring five times and adding an assist, including a two-goal game in a 6-3 win at Worcester State University on Thursday.  The Lynnfield, Mass. native and first-ever commit to the Owls' program now has 17 goals and 17 assists in 30 games, compiling a plus-26 rating.