DANBURY, Conn. – After entering halftime down by two in a back-and-forth first half, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team allowed 11 goals in the third quarter and eventually fell to Western Connecticut State University 21-11 on Tuesday night.

Records

• Keene State: 7-8 (4-3 LEC)
• Western Connecticut: 11-6 (7-0 LEC)

How it Happened

Jake Dubiel opened the scoring for the Owls in the first quarter, but it did not last long as WCSU tied the game up shortly after for the Wolves. Over four minutes later following a pair of saves in goal from WestConn's goalkeeper, Jake Kelly, the Wolves retook the lead on a goal from Tyler Starrett. Over the next five minutes the Owls were able to retake the lead following a pair of saves from their starting goalkeeper Dylan Florian as Dubiel scored again to tie the game at two apiece and Jaheim Lancaster scored for KSC to take a 3-2 lead. The rest of the opening quarter Florian was able to make four saves in net, but the Wolves snuck another shot past him as the teams headed to the second quarter tied at three apiece.
 
WCSU retook the lead 1:33 into the second and after Jon Russack-Baker won the ensuing faceoff for the Wolves, he scored his first goal of the season just 14 seconds later to jump to a 5-3 lead over the Owls. Over the next six minutes the Owls answered back with a pair of goals with Rex Maccarini leading the way on the attack. After Maccarini scored the first of the two goals to draw even, he assisted on Jack Ansart's tying goal with 7:30 remaining in the half to tie the game at five apiece. The rest of the half WCSU got four more shots on target, but Florian was only able to save a pair as the Wolves took a 7-5 lead into the half.
 
The Wolves scored first in the third quarter, 1:25 into the quarter, but KSC looked to start to gain some momentum with a pair of goals to pull within one of WCSU. Maccarini picked up an assist on both goals with Adam Scala scoring the first and Giacomo Tedone scoring the second with 12:02 remaining in the third. Unfortunately for the Owls, the Wolves took control the rest of the quarter by killing their momentum and scoring 10 consecutive goals to round out the scoring in the quarter. WCSU dominated the Owls over their 10 straight goals as they won 10 straight faceoffs too and only allowed the Owls two offensive possessions over the time span as the Wolves took a 18-7 lead into the final quarter.
 
KSC tried to start to mount a comeback as they scored three goals over the opening 7:50 of the final quarter. Maccarini scored on the first of the three to Ben Tukey and Tukey added another point on the second as he assisted Scala on his second goal of the day. Nicholas McNulty scored the third of the three goals for the Owls for a man-down goal, but WCSU answered right back with a pair of goals to double up KSC and take a 20-10 lead. Both teams scored a goal the remainder of the quarter as Ty Cougler won the ensuing faceoff and then scored a goal six seconds later for his second goal of the season for the Owls. After Matt Sweeney's goal for WCSU for his seventh point of the day, it gave the Wolves a 21-11 win over the Owls on the day.
 
"We played a great first half but ran out of gas" said Owls' head coach Mark Theriault. "We needed to play four quarters to beat a team like this."
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, KSC falls to 21-7 in the all-time series between the two teams having lost the five most recent meetings.
• A pair of Owls hit milestones in the contest as Maccarini led the Owls with five points from a goal and four assists as he reached 200 career points to become the 12th member in program to reach the mark.
• Cougler reached 100 career ground balls for the Owls in the contest as he currently sits at 101 on his career after two in the game on the day.
• The Owls struggled on faceoffs again as KSC went 5-for-34 (14.7%).
• Florian made 13 saves and allowed 17 goals in his time in net for KSC while Cameron Smith made a pair of saves and allowed four goals to the Wolves in the defeat.

Up Next


Keene State returns home for Senior Day for their next contest as they will host the University of Massachusetts-Boston for their next contest on Friday, April 25, at 5:00 PM.
WestConn wraps up their 2025 regular season with a win to move to 8-0 in LEC play and secure the #1 seed in the upcoming LEC tournament.