NORWICH, Vt. – After the matchup got moved on the road a day later due to inclement weather, it didn't bother the Keene State College women's lacrosse team as their 10 goals in the opening quarter propelled them past Norwich University for the Owls' second win of the season.

Records

• Keene State: 2-0
• Norwich: 2-1

How it Happened


KSC outscored NU 10-0 over the opening 15 minutes of the contest as both of the Lolas, Smith and Varricchione, recorded hat tricks in just 13 minutes. Mabelle Bessette opened the game up by saving the first shot from NU, only 37 seconds into the contest and shortly after, Lola Smith put KSC on the board with a goal, 2:04 into the action. KSC tacked on another goal just over a minute later after Riley Devine caused a turnover on defense for KSC, it led to Varricchione scoring her first of the game on the other end of the field. The Owls' defense held strong again after Norwich won the ensuing draw control as Carlie Jamieson caused a turnover on defense, which led to Chase Gengras assisting Lola Smith on her second goal, only 5:11 into the game. KSC tacked on two goals over the next 49 seconds as Lola Smith won the following control leading to Varricchione assisting Tess Brown on her first of the day, and Brown won the ensuing draw control, resulting in Varricchione scoring a goal for the Owls fifth goal in six minutes of action. The sixth goal of the quarter game with 6:39 left after Brown caused a turnover on defense and she assisted on Lola Smith's third goal of the game on a free position attempt. Anna Maccarini picked up her two assists on the day just a minute apart from each other, with the first being to Chase Gengras, and after Devine won the ensuing draw control, Maccarini assisted Hayden Smith on a goal for KSC with 3:08 left in the quarter. Varricchione's third goal came 1:02 after Hayden Smith's, while Brown tacked on a man-up goal for the tenth goal, 39 seconds later to give KSC a 10-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
Katelyn Nicotera entered the game for the Owls to start the second quarter for her first appearance for the Owls. Norwich was finally able to get on the board in the second, as they scored four goals in a row across the quarter. After Gianna Pesce scored for the Cadets 1:19 into the quarter, Nicotera made her first save in net for KSC, coming on a free position shot, three minutes later. Nicotera made another save in net and saw a shot hit the post shortly after, but with 6:53 remaining in the quarter, Pesce assisted Julia Proto for the Cadets' second goal of the day. NU tacked on another pair of goals over the next five minutes, but Brown scored her third goal of the day with 19 seconds remaining in the half to give KSC an 11-4 lead heading into the second half.
 
Both teams traded goals to open the second half, with Amethyst Phelps scoring for KSC and Caitlyn Fielder scoring for Norwich. On the Cadets' next shot, coming on a free position, Nicotera made another save in goal less than a minute after Fielder's shot. Following a pair of yellow cards on KSC, Julia Gutke scored two man-up goals in 31 seconds as Norwich pulled within five. NU's goalkeeper, Bailey Manning-Ingala, saved a pair of shots in net on an Owl extra-attacker opportunity as the Cadets killed the penalty off, but a few minutes later, KSC capitalized on a yellow card as the Smith sisters connected for a goal with Hayden Smith finding Lola Smith for the man-up goal. KSC doubled up NU with 1:25 left in the third after Brown caused a turnover leading to Varricchione scoring her fourth of the game and Devine caused a turnover for the Owls on the Cadets' final possession of the quarter to give KSC a 14-7 lead heading into the fourth.
 
Norwich did all they could in the final quarter to try to mount a comeback in the final quarter as Fielder scored 4:45 into the fourth, but KSC answered back with a pair of goals over the next minute and a half. Brown's fourth goal of the game came 30 seconds after Fielder's goal due to Varricchione winning the ensuing draw control and the second of the pair came on a free position attempt from Gengras for her second goal of the day with 8:47 remaining. NU capitalized on Brown's second yellow card of the game with eight minutes of play with a man-up goal, and Gutke added another goal for the Cadets 39 seconds later to pull Norwich within six. NU pulled within five on a goal from Athena Merck with 5:33 remaining which caused KSC to call a timeout to regroup. Following the timeout, KSC was able to kill a lot of the clock as Nicotera saved a pair of shots in goal, but with 1:53 remaining, following a pair of shots off the post for NU, Proto scored to bring the Cadets within four. Proto scored her third of the day with a minute left, but the Cadets' comeback fell short as Gengras won the final draw control and KSC killed the rest of the clock to hang on for the 16-13 win over Norwich.
 
"We put a focus on starting stronger than our previous games and we certainly started hot" said KSC head coach Travis Wyant, "We took our foot off the pedal a bit but did what we needed to do to maintain a lead. All things considered, really impressed with our flexibility in the face of constant changes."
 
Inside the Crease

• KSC improves to 2-0 in the two all-time contests between the two teams, having last beat Norwich 22-13 in the ECAC opener on May 7, 2008.
• Varricchione and Brown tied for a game-high with five points coming from tying for game-highs with four goals to go with an assist.
• Lola Smith was close behind with four points by tying for the game-high of four goals, while Gengras finished with three points from two goals and an assist.
• Devine and Brown both tallied a team-highs of four ground balls apiece, along with each causing three turnovers apiece as the two combined for half of the team's 12 caused turnovers on the day.
• Bessette finished with one save and no goals allowed in her first 15 minutes of action while Nicotera made seven saves in her first appearance for the Owls in her 45 minutes. Manning-Ingala made seven saves for NU as well, across her 60 minutes in goal.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be on the road at Smith College on Wednesday, March 5, at 6:00 PM.
Norwich next plays at Dean College in their first Greater Northeat Athletic Conference (GNAC) game of their 2025 season on Saturday, March 8, at 1:00 PM.