CASTLETON, Vt. – Tess Brown tied the Keene State College women's lacrosse program record with nine goals for the Owls in their 16-6 win over Vermont State Castleton University on Friday night to move to 2-0 in Little East Conference play on the season.

Records

• Keene State: 7-2 (2-0 LEC)
• Vermont State Castleton: 1-8 (0-2 LEC)

How it Happened


The Owls were on the attack early in the contest as they scored the first three goals over the opening 9:18 of the contest, all coming on free position attempts. Lola Varricchione scored the first, less than three minutes in, and after Tess Brown scored the second goal (a man-up goal) a few minutes later, Varricchione scored her second of the game for the Owls for the 3-0 lead. With 3:38 remaining in the first, Castleton capitalized on a man-up opportunity 15 seconds into the chance, but Brown scored her second goal of the game less than a minute later to regain the three-goal lead. Mabelle Bessette saved the final shot on target by the Spartans in net for the Owls in her one quarter of action on the night on a free position shot, as the Owls took a 4-1 lead into the second quarter.
 
The second quarter was by far the highest scoring quarter of the day as the teams combined for nine goals. Castleton tried to cut into the Owls lead with a man-down goal from Renny Cota, to open the scoring 1:06 into the quarter, but the Owls quickly shut down any momentum that the Spartans were looking to build over the next five minutes. Brown scored another pair of goals 40 seconds apart, with the second coming from Varricchione, and Anna Maccarini scored shortly after to give KSC a 7-2 lead. With just under four minutes remaining in the first half, KSC scored another two goals over 37 seconds, with Lola Smith scoring a free position goal and Brown scoring a man-up goal for KSC to jump to a 9-2 lead. Cota scored a free position goal for the Spartans with 1:52 remaining, but after Varricchione caused a turnover with under a minute remaining, Chase Gengras assisted Brown on her sixth goal of the opening half with 38 seconds remaining. Katelyn Nicotera made her first save of the day for the Owls with 28 seconds remaining, but Cota scored once more before halftime as KSC took a 10-4 lead into the half.
 
The Spartan's goalkeeper, Katie Stager, saved the first three shots in goal by the Owls in the first three minutes of the second half, after making four saves in net for Castleton in the opening 30 minutes of play. Just as they did through the first half, the Owls were able to find a way around Stager shortly after with a pair of goals as Maccarini assisted Brown for her seventh goal and Hayden Smith scored a goal to increase the Owls' lead to 12-4. After Nicotera made another save for KSC, Lola Smith assisted Maccarini for her second goal of the game with 6:32 remaining in the third. Abby Tanner entered the net for the Owls with 8:09 remaining and saw four shots the rest of the quarter, as she saved three of the four shots, including a free position save to hold onto the Owls' 13-5 lead into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
Tanner opened the fourth quarter by making three saves in goal for the Owls over 3:08, while Brown scored her eighth of the game, to open the scoring in the final quarter, with 7:27 remaining. Two minutes later, after Tanner made a save and KSC committed a foul, Brianna Paul scored the Spartans' only goal of the quarter on a free position shot. Over the next 1:14, KSC scored two more goals once again, with Brown tying the KSC school record with her ninth of the game and Maccarini scoring her third of the game to increase the Owls' lead to 10. "Tess Brown certainly took over the game offensively, but it was because she was working well with her teammates" said Owls' Head Coach Travis Wyant. "The pick game was a point of emphasis today and it felt good getting back to that part of our game." Tanner kept the Spartans off the board the rest of the way with a pair of saves to hold onto the Owls' 16-6 win. "We are heading into a tough stretch of games, and we know minutes will be tight" said Wyant regarding the rotation of goalies in the contest. "We wanted to get more looks for each of them before we started prepping for playoffs."
 
"Playing up at Castleton is always hard, it's a tough environment. They're a physical team, and while we play into it at times — I'm really proud of our team's composure," said Wyant on the Owls moving to 2-0 in LEC play and coming home with the win.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC improves to 22-1 in the all-time series between the two programs, having won the 12 most recent matchups dating back to 2015.
• Brown tallied a game-high nine points from her nine goals in the contest, which is tied for the third-most in a game in the LEC on the season so far.
• After notching a pair of goals in the previous game to become the 20th Owl to reach the 100-career goal mark, Brown increases her career total to 110, the 16th most in program history.
• Maccarini recorded four points from three goals and an assist as she has recorded a goal in five straight games, averaging 2.2 goals over the span.
• Varricchione recorded three points from a pair of goals and an assist.
• Lola Smith finished with two points from a goal and an assist as she moves to 92 career points, while Gengras' assist moves her career point total to 94.
• Bessette logged one save in her quarter in net, while Nicotera recorded a pair of saves and three goals allowed over 21:51, and Tanner only allowed a pair of goals while making nine saves in net for the Owls in just 23:09 of action.

 
Up Next


Keene State returns to action in their final non-conference home game of the year as the Owls will host Worcester State University on Tuesday, April 1, at 6:30 PM.
Castleton also returns to action on Tuesday, April 1, but at 7:00 PM, as the Spartans travel to take on Albertus Magnus College.