KEENE, N.H. – Back on their home turf in the below-20 temps and down by four with under a few minutes remaining, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team scored four-straight in the final 1:04 of regulation to force overtime against Western New England University on Wednesday afternoon. After both teams traded possessions, the Owls' comeback fell short, as WNE netted the game-winner in OT for the 12-11 win over KSC on the day.
Records
- Keene State: 0-2
- Western New England: 1-1
Postgame Interview (Coach Theriault)
How it Happened
After Griffin LaRochelle opened the scoring for the Golden Bears, 2:04 into the game, WNE tacked on another goal 48 seconds later following another faceoff win from Chris Catuosco, as Zachary Mein put WNE up by a pair. KSC killed off a one-minute penalty after the goal, as
Dylan Florian saved the next two shots from WNE in net for the Owls. KSC cut WNE's lead in half with 7:54 remaining in the quarter as
Jaheim Lancaster assisted
Nicholas McNulty for his second goal on the season. The rest of the quarter, Golden Bear goalkeeper Braden Cirviello saved two shots from the Owls, and Florian made another save in the closing seconds as WNE took a 2-1 lead into the second quarter.
Catuosco won another faceoff for WNE on the opening faceoff of the quarter, but
Ty Cougler forced a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to
Rex Maccarini assisting
Dylan Seymour on the tying goal, 1:25 into the quarter. After KSC killed off another man-up penalty, Cirviello saved the next shot from Seymour, but he was unable to save the next shot he faced as
Jake Dubiel put KSC up by a goal with 10:15 remaining in the half. The Owls' lead only lasted for 1:31, as LaRochelle added his second goal of the game for WNE to tie the game up at three apiece. Another caused turnover by Cougler on defense led to the Owls retaking lead with 3:48 left in the second quarter. Just over a minute later, the Owls defense continued to cause issues for the Golden Bears as Cole Riccardi caused a turnover for KSC, leading to
Tim Kelleher assisting Maccarini to put the Owls up a pair. KSC took a 5-3 lead into the half as Cougler caused another turnover on WNE's last possession, for his fourth of the game.
WNE made the necessary halftime adjustments as they scored three goals (including one man-up goal) on their first five shots of the third to take a 6-5 lead, 5:36 into the second half. The Golden Bears added another man-up goal for their fourth consecutive goal and LaRochelle's third of the game with 6:32 left as jumped ahead by two.
Dylan Fadale caused a turnover on WNE's next possession, which led to
Giacomo Tedone cutting the Golden Bear's lead to one. With a penalty called on Tedone's goal and a man-up opportunity for the Owls, Catuosco continued to dominate the faceoffs as he won yet another and scored a man-down goal just five seconds later to put WNE up 8-6. WNE killed off the rest of the penalty as Jonathon Salsbury made his first save in net for WNE after entering at the half. WNE increased their lead to three heading into the final 15 minutes of play as Josh Gagnon scored his fourth goal of the season.
KSC started the fourth with the ball to open the fourth due to a penalty to LaRochelle that did not result on a man-up opportunity, but Salsbury saved the Owls' first two shots on goal in the opening 37 seconds of the quarter. Following Salsbury's two saves, Jack Houlden scored his second goal of the game 40 seconds later to increase the Golden Bear's lead to four. KSC answered back with a goal 2:12 later as
Adam Scala netted the first goal of his collegiate career, coming from Seymour. Both goalkeepers traded saves in goal over the next seven plus minutes, including Salsbury saving a shot on
Jack Theriault on the Owls' 6-on-4 opportunity. Gagnon scored his fifth goal of the season for WNE with 4:43 remaining in the quarter to put the Golden Bears back up by four. Gagnon's goal looked to be the final nail in the coffin, but KSC was not done yet, as Tedone scored his second goal of the game, coming from Seymour, giving the Owls momentum with 1:04 remaining in regulation. After
Aidan Donohue won the ensuing faceoff for the Owls, it led to Seymour pulling KSC within a pair with 33 seconds remaining on the clock. WNE looked to ice the game after Rocco DeSimone won the ensuing faceoff for WNE, but
Owen Keeley caused a turnover which led to Maccarini collecting the loose ball and scoring to make it a one score game with 24 seconds remaining. Catuosco entered the game again for WNE and made it a perfect 19-for-19 for himself on the day on faceoffs by winning the ensuing draw, but Donohue caused Catuosco to turn it the ball over to give KSC a chance to tie the game up. Following KSC's timeout with eight seconds on the clock, Maccarini sent a pass to Tedone, who ripped a shot past Salsbury to tie the game up at 11 with four seconds left. James Wrynn had a chance to give the Golden Bears the win on a last second shot, but it went wide to send the Owls into their first overtime game since April 28, 2023, against Plymouth State University.
Following the Golden Bears' turning over their opening possession after their first shot missed the target, KSC was unable to capitalize on their opportunity as Maccarini's shot attempt was blocked. Following a timeout from WNE with 1:37 left on the clock in the first sudden-death overtime period, the ball was knocked loose by the KSC defense, but it fell right to Max Rudgers, who sent a shot around Florian to give WNE the 12-11 overtime win.
Inside the Crease
- With the loss, KSC falls to 3-10 all-time to WNE, having lost the seven most recent contests.
- KSC's struggles continued on faceoffs, as WNE won 84.6% (22-for-26) of the faceoffs, with Catuosco going a perfect 19-for-19 for WNE. Over the two first two games of the seasons, KSC has gone 16-for-62 (25.8%) on faceoffs to open the season.
- Maccarini and Seymour led the game in points, with five points (three goals and two assists) and four points (two goals and two assists), respectively.
- Florian made 10 saves in net for the Owls across the entire game, while Civiello made three in his 30 minutes in net, and Salsbury made five in his 32:41 in goal.
- WNE went 2-for-6 on extra man opportunities, including a man-down goal, while KSC went 0-5 on man-up opportunities.
- Ty Cougler and Dylan Fadale each tallied a game-high four caused turnovers, accounting for half of the Owls' 16 caused turnovers.
Up Next
Keene State's next game will be back at home, as they host the Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday, February 22, at 1:00 PM, as KSC looks to avenge their 18-4 loss to the Leopards last season, and hopefully take a 2-1 all-time series lead over WIT.
WNE has a longer break, as their next game is on the road against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, February 28, at 6:00 PM.
