BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Led by a balanced scoring which saw nine different Owls record a goal, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team took care of business in the Little East Conference Quarterfinals on the road for the first time in program history as KSC defeated Massachusetts Maritime Academy 14-11 to move onto the semifinals on Thursday.

Records

• Keene State: 8-9
• Massachusetts Maritime: 9-7

How it Happened


Both teams got off to a slow start on the attack as the Owls' goalkeeper Dylan Florian saved the first four shots over the opening 9:05 of the contest to keep the Buccaneers off the board early on. KSC was unable to get a shot on target until there was 5:07 remaining in the first and KSC made it count as Rex Maccarini assisted Sebastian Foresi for the Owls' first goal of the game to take a lead. KSC tacked on two more goals over the next 1:44 as they jumped to a 3-0 lead with Jack Ansart scoring the first of the pair and Foresi assisting Tim Souza for the second with 3:23 left in the first. 14 seconds later MMA answered with a goal of their own after Braeden Kosiewicz scored, but Ansart forced a turnover on the Buccaneer's next time with the ball and led to Giacomo Tedone assisting him for his second goal of the game coming with 2:19 remaining in the first. With seven seconds left in the first following aa KSC turnover, James Sullivan tallied a goal for MMA and Florian made a save in the closing seconds to give KSC a 4-2 lead heading into the seconds quarter.
 
MMA came out of the gates hot in the opening 4:45 of the second quarter as they outscored KSC 3-1 to tie the game up at five apiece. After MMA scored six seconds into the quarter, Maccarini assisted Souza to answer right back for KSC shortly after. Over the 1:33 after Souza's goal, the Buccaneers scored a pair of goals to tie the game up after MMA won both the ensuing faceoffs and scored on the following offensive possession. Florian saved the next shot he faced from the Buccaneers after they won their sixth faceoff in a row, but KSC capitalized on their offensive possession on the other side of the field by retaking the lead thanks to Jake Dubiel assisting Jaheim Lancaster with 9:31 remaining in the half. Both goalkeepers saved the next shot they each faced in goal, but MMA was able to tie the game up at six apiece again thanks to a goal from Scott MacKinnon with 5:20 remaining in the half. KSC turned the page the rest of the half and dominated as they scored three goals in a row. The first of the three came following Dylan Fadale causing a turnover on defense for KSC, leading to Ansart assisting Ben Tukey for the Owls. Although the Owls were unable to capitalize on a minute man-up opportunity shortly after, Tedone assisted Nicholas McNulty for the second of three goals, coming with 1:27 remaining in the half. Florian made his second of two saves over the final 5:20 of the half, which led to KSC drawing up a play with under 30 seconds left and Souza beating the buzzer with a goal to give KSC a nice 9-6 lead heading into the half.
 
After the teams combined to score nine goals in the seconds quarter, with KSC having a 5-4 advantage, the two teams combined to score just three goals in the third quarter of action. Both goalkeepers saved the first shot they faced in the third and MMA struck first on what would up being their only goal of the quarter as former Owl William Dykeman assisted Kyle Shanahan to pull the Buccaneers within a pair 2:50 into the quarter. Both goalkeepers once again saved the next shot that they faced but following Tim Kelleher caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to Souza tallying another goal on the other end of the field to put KSC back up by three. Ty Cougler won the ensuing faceoff for the Owls, and it led to another goal 58 seconds later as Lancaster assisted Tedone on another goal for KSC. Florian saved the last two shots he faced the rest of the quarter as Lancaster caused a turnover on defense in the closing seconds to keep KSC ahead by four heading into the fourth up 11-7.
 
Lancaster tallied his third point of the game with another assist to Tedone on the Owls' 12th goal of the game, 58 seconds into the fourth. After MMA won the ensuing faceoff and a save by Florian, Cougler caused a turnover on defense, leading to KSC capitalizing on a man-up goal as Dylan Seymour assisted Cole Ricardi as KSC jumped ahead 13-7 with 11:40 remaining. The Buccaneers tried to mount a comeback by scoring three goals over a minute span shortly after, leading to the Owls calling a timeout with 8:25 remaining to try to halt MMA. KSC was able to kill the Buccaneers' momentum as Maccarini assisted Seymour for the next goal, coming with 3:43 remaining as the Owls jumped back ahead by four. The Buccaneers were only able to get two more shots on goal the rest of the way with Joe Vricella scoring the first of the two with 1:01 remaining and Florian saving the second shot on Vricella in the closing seconds as the Owls held off the Buccaneers' comeback attempt in the fourth for a 14-11 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
 
"I felt that our team was able to play 4 quarters both offensively and defensively" said Owls' Head Coach Mark Theriault. "They worked hard and kept our unforced errors to a minimum."
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC improved to 5-1 in the all-time series between the two teams as they bounced back from their first defeat to the Buccaneers in the all-time series earlier this season.
• Souza and Tedone led the Owls on the attack with a game-high of four points apiece with Souza tallying a game-high of four goals and Tedone recording a pair of each goals and assists.
• Cougler led the Owls on defense with three caused turnovers on the day, as he accounted for a third of KSC's nine caused turnovers.
• KSC capitalized on one of their two man-up opportunities as MMA went 0-for-2 on their chances.
• Florian made 16 saves on the day while allowing just 11 goals, while the Buccaneers' goalkeeper, Eddie Keller made seven saves and allowed 14 goals.
• KSC picked up the win despite their struggles again on faceoffs as the Owls went 8-for-28 (28.6%).

 
Up Next


Keene State will travel to take on Western Connecticut State University on Thursday, May 1, at 4:00 PM in the LEC Semifinals.
MMA finishes their 2025 season with a 9-7 record on the year with the defeat.