KEENE, N.H. – The eight goals scored in the first half by the Keene State College men's lacrosse team were all they needed to take down Vermont State University Castleton on Wednesday night as the Owls' 11-5 win moved them to 4-1 in Little East Conference play on the year.
Records
- Keene State: 7-6 (4-1 LEC)
- Castleton: 3-9 (2-3 LEC)
Highlights
Postgame Interview (Coach Theriault)
Postgame Interview (Giacomo Tedone)
How it Happened
The Owls got off to a slow start to the contest as they scored just three goals in the opening 15 minutes of action in the contest.
Giacomo Tedone scored his first goal of the contest from
Jake Dubiel, just 1:18 into the first. The Spartans' goalkeeper, Zac Smith, saved the next two shots from KSC, but Tedone snuck another shot past him to put KSC up a pair. With 5:14 remaining in the first quarter,
Dylan Seymour assisted
Jack Ansart to put the Owls up by three on Ansart's 23rd goal of the season. The rest of the first Smith made seven more saves in goal to limit the Owls to three goals on 12 shots on target over the opening 15 minutes of play.
After the Owls killed off a 30 second penalty to start the beginning of the second quarter, they scored a goal just 57 seconds into it as
Nicholas McNulty assisted Ansart for his second goal of the game. Smith saved the next three shots from KSC, but he was unable to save the fourth in a row as Tedone assisted
Jaheim Lancaster for the Owls' next goal with 9:45 remaining in the half. Over the next five minutes, KSC tacked on three more goals as
Rex Maccarini assisted
Chris Adriaansen for his third goal of the season, followed by
Sebastian Foresi's third goal of the season for the Owls. Tedone picked up yet another point on an assist to Maccarini for the Owls' eighth goal in a row to take an 8-0 lead with 4:57 remaining in the half. With 2:42 remaining in the half, Castleton scored their first goal of the game as Braydon Goddard scored his first goal on the night to cut the lead to seven. Smith made two more saves in goal the rest of the quarter to bring his quarter total to nine saves yet again to limit the Owls' lead to 8-1 heading into half.
Goddard opened the scoring in the second half with a goal, but Tedone answered back for the Owls with his third goal on the day, coming from Maccarini this time to increase the lead back to seven for KSC. With 10:57 remaining in the quarter, Castleton scored the final goal of the third as Carter Frankenhoff scored for the Spartans to bring the score to 9-3 in the Owls favor. The rest of the third, Smith made five more saves while
Ty Cougler caused three turnovers on defense for the Owls as they took a 9-3 lead into the final 15 minutes of play.
Exactly a minute into the final quarter the Owls scored first as Maccarini picked up his 25th assist of the season on Ansart's 25th goal of the year for the Owls. Smith made three more saves in goal over the next nearly eight minutes as Castleton scored a pair of goals to pull within five goals as Liam Evarts scored twice for the Spartans, but Tedone once again found Maccarini for the Owls 11th goal of the day to kill Castleton's momentum. In the final 5:53 of the contest neither team scored as the Owls held on to improve to 4-1 in conference play on the season.
Inside the Crease
- With the win, KSC improves to 7-0 in the all-time series against the Spartans.
- KSC's six-goal victory on the day was their smallest margin of victory in a contest between the two teams as the Owls average margin of victory in the matchup had been 14.7 in the past six matchups.
- Maccarini and Tedone both led the way with a game-high of five points apiece for the Owls. Maccarini scored two goals and had three assists, while Tedone had three goals and two assists.
- Cougler dominated the Spartans on defense as he caused nine turnovers, as he set the KSC program single game record, the season high in the conference for a single game this year and he bested his previous career high of seven in the Owls' last contest
- Ryan Valentine made one save on two shots that he saw in goal over the 30 minutes in net of his first career collegiate start and win for KSC.
- Dylan Florian made two saved of four shots in goal for KSC, while Cameron Smith made three saves on five shots as they each played a quarter for the Owls in the contest.
- Zac Smith recorded 27 saves in goal for the Spartans as he has the LEC-high for a single game this year by six saves.
- Smith's 27 saves are the most by an LEC goalkeeper since Trevor Gilligan made 31 saves for Salem State University against Massachusetts Maritime Academy on April 25, 2023.
Up Next
Keene State hits the road for the in-state rivalry matchup against Plymouth State University for their next contest on Friday, April 18, at 6:30 PM.
Castleton will next play on the road at MMA for their next contest on Saturday, April 19, at 10:00 AM.
