GORHAM, Maine – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team hit the road on Monday night as the Owls looked to pick up their second consecutive Little East Conference win, but the Owls were shut down by the University of Southern Maine's defense as their goalkeeper, Lydia Laslavic, made 13 saves in net and only allowed five goals enroute to the Owls' 16-5 defeat to the Huskies.

Records

• Keene State: 9-4 (3-2 LEC)
• Southern Maine: 9-4 (3-1 LEC)

How it Happened


The first 15 minutes of the contest saw both teams trade a few goals back and forth as the Huskies got on the board first with Ciera Hill scoring a man-up free position goal for her first of four goals on the day, 2:30 into the contest. Laslavic saved the first two shots from KSC in net for USM but following Lola Smith causing a turnover on a USM clear attempt, Tess Brown scored her team-leading 36th goal of the season as KSC tied the game up with 8:32 remaining in the half. Over the next three minutes, both teams tallied another goal as USM answered shortly after Brown's goal and then the Owls responded with Anna Maccarini assisting Chase Gengras for her 30th goal of the year. With 3:57 remaining in the opening quarter, after she caused a turnover, Maccarini scored a man-up goal from Amethyst Phelps as the Owls took the lead for the first time. KSC's starting goalkeeper, Mabelle Bessette, saved the next two shots from the Huskies but in the final 1:08 of the first, they scored two more times as USM took a 4-3 lead into the second quarter.
 
The second quarter was all USM as they outscored the Owls 3-0 over the 15 minutes. Laslavic saved three shots on goal over the quarter for the Huskies, including a free position shot saved on Lola Varricchione. Bessette saved the first shot that she faced in goal in the quarter, but USM scored the next two shots on target and with 5:21 remaining, Katelyn Nicotera entered the crease for the Owls the rest of the way. Nicotera saved the first two shots she saw from the Huskies and then with 1:08 remaining in the half, USM added on a man-down goal as the Huskies took a 7-3 lead into the half.
 
USM continued to build on their lead in the third quarter as the Huskies outscored KSC 5-2 over the quarter. Katelyn D'Appolonia scored her second goal of the contest on a free position shot 57 seconds into the second half to make it six-straight goals for USM, but Brown answered right back for the Owls with a man-up goal a couple minutes later. Over the next five minutes, Laslavic saved five shots in a row from the Owls, including another free position shot saved, while USM tacked on two more goals on the other side of the field with D'Appolonia and Hill scoring a goal apiece. Lola Smith got on the board for the Owls with her 31st goal of the season with 6:52 remaining in the third, but the rest of the quarter, Nicotera was only able to save two of the four shots on goal from the Huskies as USM netted two more goals to take a 12-5 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The fourth quarter went just as the second for the Owls as they were held scoreless, with the Huskies scoring four to none from the Owls. Hill scored two more goals, while D'Appolonia scored her fifth and Anna Byers scored her first of the contest the rest of the way. Laslavic made one save in net for USM in the final quarter on another free position shot to limit KSC to five goals on the day.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, KSC falls to 25-9 in the all-time series against the Huskies.
• Maccarini and Brown each recorded two points for KSC as Maccarini recorded a goal and an assist, while Brown scored two goals.
• Brown led the way on caused turnovers by a wide margin as she had aa game-high of five while the next closest was two by two Huskies.
• Bessette made three saves over her 24:39 in net, while Nicotera made six saves in her 35:21 in goal for the Owls.
• Laslavic made 13 saves on 18 shots faced in goal for USM in the contest.

 
Up Next


Keene State will play on the road on short rest again for their next contest as the Owls will travel to take on the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Wednesday, April 16, at 7:00 PM.
Southern Maine also returns to action on short rest as they will travel to take on Plymouth State University on Wednesday, April 16, at 4:00 PM.