PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Owls' five fourth quarter goals were not enough as the Keene State College women's lacrosse team's comeback fell short to Plymouth State University, 11-8 on Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State: 11-6 (5-3 LEC)
• Plymouth State: 13-2 (7-0 LEC)

How it Happened


PSU got on the board first in the contest with a goal just 47 seconds in from Morgan Cunningham. After allowing the first shot to find the back of the net KSC's goalkeeper, Mabelle Bessette, saved the next four shots from the Panthers over the next eight minutes, including a save on a free position shot from PSU. Maddie Hunt was finally able to find the back of the net for the Panthers to take a 2-0 lead but with 1:56 remaining in the quarter, Tess Brown scored a free position goal to bring KSC within a goal. The rest of the quarter Bessette kept the Panthers off the board as she made two more saves to limit PSU's lead to 2-1 heading into the second quarter.
 
PSU started to pull away in the second quarter as they outscored KSC 5-1 with the first of the five goals coming 1:06 into the second from Cunningham again. PSU scored four more goals in a row over the next 11 minutes of the second quarter, highlighted by a man-down goal by Julia Donovan for PSU. Bessette tacked on four more saves for KSC in the quarter, including another free position shot saved, while Brown assisted Lola Smith on a man-up goal in the closing minutes of the quarter to cut PSU's lead to 7-2 heading into halftime.
 
Following Bessette's save on the first shot that she faced in the second half, Hayden Smith assisted Lola Varricchione on a man-up goal for the Owls with 8:58 remaining in the quarter to pull within four. The rest of the quarter, Bessette saved four of the seven shots that she saw on target, including yet another free position shot saved, while the Owls attack was unable to get going on the other side of the field and PSU took a 10-3 lead into the final quarter.
 
The Owls attack finally found its way in the final quarter as KSC scored three goals in the opening half of the final quarter, with Bessette making two more saves, including her fourth free position shot saved on the day. Varricchione scored the fourth goal for KSC on the day, from Gengras and then shortly after Gengras scored a goal of her Owls to pull within five on a man-up score. The last of the three goals in the first half of the fourth quarter came on a man-up free position shot from Riley Devine with 8:22 remaining. Two minutes later, Greta Oberacker scored a man-up goal to put the final nail in the coffin and halt the momentum the Owls were hoping to build to mount a comeback. In the closing minutes, KSC tacked on two more goals with the first scored by Gengras assisted by Lola Smith. The final goal of the contest was another man-up goal for KSC as Brown assisted Anna Maccarini to bring the final score to 11-8 for the Panthers.
 
"A very solid defensive performance from the team! Another one of those games if we had five extra minutes, we might have sealed the comeback. We held the best shooting team in the conference to their worst performance all year," said Owls' Head Coach Travis Wyant.
 
"We will continue to work on that starting stronger piece, but today proved that when we have our ducks in a row, we can play with anyone in the conference."
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, KSC falls to 10-34 in the all-time series between the two teams, as PSU has taken the 12 most recent contests.
• Brown and Gengras both finished the contest with three points as Brown had a goal and two assists, while Gengras scored a pair of goals and added an assist.
• Brown led KSC on defense in the contest with three caused turnovers and added a pair of draw controls wins as she notched career draw control win number 200 for KSC.
• Having a previous career-high of 14 saves, Bessette had a great game in net for KSC on the day as she set a new career-high of 17 saves in the contest for a .607 SV%.

 
Up Next


Keene State plays in their final contest of the regular season on Saturday, April 26, at 6:00 PM as KSC travels to take on Bridgewater State University.
Plymouth State secures the No. 1 seed in the LEC with their victory as the Panthers will next play against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday, April 26, at 12:00 PM at home.