KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team returned to the win column after a slow start to their contest as the Owls scored seven goals in the third quarter with Lola Smith and Chase Gengras each tallying their 100th career point enroute to KSC's 15-11 win over Eastern Connecticut State University.

Records

• Keene State: 9-3 (3-1 LEC)
• Eastern Connecticut: 9-3 (1-2 LEC)

How it Happened


Eastern scored four goals in a row over the opening 11:01 of the contest with Abby Parisi leading the Warriors with a pair of the four goals to jump to an early lead over KSC. Over the next 2:19 of play, KSC got on the board with two goals as Lola Varricchione assisted Gengras for and after Mabelle Bessette made her fourth save of the quarter in goal for the Owls, Gengras scored a free position goal to bring the score to 4-2 heading into the second quarter.
 
KSC pulled within a goal of the Warriors as Varricchione assisted Lola Smith for her first goal of the game just 31 seconds into the second quarter. Over the next few minutes, ECSU answered back and doubled the Owls up with a pair of goals to jump to a 6-3 lead. With Smith's goal in the second, and Gengras' two goals in the first quarter, both teammates moved to 99 career points over their four years as an Owl, but Smith won the race to 100 as she scored a man-down goal with 8:19 left in the first half. Following Bessette's third save of the quarter, KSC tacked on another goal shortly after as Varricchione scored a free position goal 57 seconds after Smith's. In the final five minutes of the half, Hannah Seltzer tallied two more goals for the Warriors, including a man-up goal, while Anna Maccarini scored her 13th goal of the season for the Owls. Bessette kept the score at 8-6 in the Warriors' favor by saving a free position shot in the closing seconds of the half to keep KSC within a pair heading into the second half.
 
The Owls opened the second half on fire as they scored five straight goals to open the third, including three in the opening 4:47 of the quarter. Tess Brown scored the first of the three and after she won the ensuing draw control, Lola Smith tacked on another goal for KSC 1:30 later. The third of the three goals came after Gengras won the draw control after Smith's goal and then Gengras notched her 100th career point as Lola Smith assisted her on her goal to reach the milestone. Maccarini scored her second goal of the game for the fourth consecutive goal, while Amethyst Phelps scored a man-up goal for the Owls to increase their lead to 11-8 with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter. Seltzer and the Warriors tried to halt the Owls' momentum as she scored her third goal of the game, but KSC didn't let it stop them as the Owls tacked on two more goals the remainder of the quarter. Brown continued KSC's scoring barrage in the quarter with a free position goal and following a caused turnover by Hayden Smith, Gengras scored another Owls' free position goal to take a 13-9 lead into the final 15 minutes of action.
 
Both teams traded a goal over the first half of the final quarter with Brown scoring another free position goal and Avonlea LeBeau scoring her third goal of the game for the Warriors. KSC increased their lead to five as Gengras scored her fifth goal of the game with a little over five minutes remaining and the Warriors tacked on one more goal with 39 seconds remaining as the Owls hung on to the 15-11 win over ECSU.

Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC improves to 19-19 in the all-time series against the Warriors to tie the series up. KSC has won the 10 most recent matchups dating back to April 27, 2019, to start the win streak. Over the 10-game streak, KSC has outscored ECSU 178-87.
• Of the Owls' 10 straight wins against the Warriors, KSC has eliminated ECSU four times in the LEC tournament, including in each of the past two postseasons.
• Gengras and Parisi tied for the game-high of five points apiece as Gengras tallied five goals and Parisi scored three goals to go with her two assists.
• Four others in the contest scored three goals as Seltzer and LeBeau each scored three apiece for three points for ECSU and Lola Smith tallied three goals and an assist while Brown scored three goals (two free position goals on her two attempts), including the eventual game-winner.
• Bessette had a monster game for KSC as she locked down the Warriors in the second half. After making four saves in each of the first two quarters on 16 shots on goal faced, she made three saves in each of the final two quarters on nine shots on goal for a .667 SV%.
• Bessette's 14 saves on the day on the day on 25 shots on target were good for a .56 SV%. On the four free position shots on goal from the Warrior Bessette locked ECSU down and saved three of the four shots for a .750 SV% on free position shots on goal.
• The Warriors' starting goalkeeper, Maizie Rukat, made four saves in goal over 39:16 of action, but was pulled after allowing the Owls' 11th goal. Emma Alford entered the crease after Rukat, but she only mustered up one save on five shots on target from KSC.
• Both Lolas for KSC led the way on caused turnovers on the day as Smith and Varricchione each tied the game high with three caused turnovers apiece.

 
Up Next

Keene State has four of their final five games on the road to end their 2025 regular season, with the first of the four being their next contest as they will travel to take on the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, April 12, at 1:00 PM.
Eastern Connecticut will face off against the University of Massachusetts-Boston at home for their next contest, also on Saturday, April 12, at 1:00 PM.