DANBURY, Conn. – The Keene State College men's lacrosse team hit the road to take on the Western Connecticut State University Wolves on Thursday afternoon for the third consecutive postseason matchup between the two teams as the Wolves as the No. 1 team. After being outscored 7-2 over the opening 15 minutes of action, the Owls were unable to come back as they eventually fell to the Wolves 17-7 in the contest.

Records

• Keene State: 8-10
• Western Connecticut: 13-6

How it Happened


After the Owls' goalkeeper Dylan Florian saved the first two shots he faced on the day, WCSU got out to a hot start soon after as they scored five goals in a row over the opening 6:13 of the first quarter. After KSC called a timeout, Rex Maccarini picked up a pair of points for the Owls on the attack as he assisted Jack Ansart for a man-up goal and scored the second goal from Dylan Seymour as the Owls tried to catch up to the Wolves with 5:11 left in the first. The rest of the quarter the Owls were unable to score another goal as WCSU tacked on another two goals to take a 7-2 lead into the second.
 
Both teams traded a goal over the first 2:18 of the second quarter with Liam Ford scoring his third of the day on a man-up goal and Maccarini assisting Ansart once again for the Owls shortly after. 2:01 after Ansart's goal, the Wolves jumped back ahead by six as Mason McClay scored the second goal of the quarter from WCSU. Maccarini picked up assist number three to Ansart on another man-up goal later in the second quarter, but the Wolves responded with another goal in the closing minutes to take a 10-4 lead into halftime.
 
The third quarter was the lowest scoring quarter of the day as the teams only scored two goals apiece over the 15 minutes. Tyler Starrett scored the first goal of the third for WCSU and the Owls responded back with Maccarini assisting Ansart for the fourth time on the day with 8:40 remaining in the third. KSC tried to start to mount a comeback after Ty Cougler caused his third turnover on the day on defense and Jake Dubiel scored to bring KSC within five, but the Wolves responded right back with a man-up goal 22 seconds later to double KSC up and take a 12-6 lead. Florian made three saves the rest of the quarter as KSC entered the final 15 minutes of regulation in the contest down by six.
 
The Owls struggled in the fourth quarter, just as the first, as WCSU outscored the Owls 5-1 in the final 15 minutes of the semifinal matchup. After Ford scored his fourth goal of the day 1:06 into the quarter, KSC was unable to capitalize on a man-up opportunity, and a few minutes later the Wolves tacked on another goal to go ahead 14-6 with 8:39 remaining. The Owls notched their final goal of the season coming from Seymour shortly after and WCSU added two more goals as the Wolves came away with the 17-7 victory over KSC.
 
"We played at about 60% and cannot win playoff games with that kind of execution," said Owls' Head Coach Mark Theriault. "For us it's always disappointing not winning the LEC championship and we as a staff need to get right back at it, hit the recruiting trail and get better."
 
KSC will be graduating 10 seniors in the class of 2025 "I appreciate the hard work and passion this senior group gave to our team. We will miss them and excited to see them as they take the next steps in their lives" said Theriault on the impact that the senior class had on the team.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the defeat, KSC falls to 21-8 to the Wolves in the all-time series, having lost the six most recent contests.
• Maccarini led the Owls with five points on the day from a goal and his game-high four assists, all to Ansart, who finished the day with four goals.
• Maccarini finishes his career as an Owl with 211 points, the 11th most in program history. His 110 career goals tie him with current Owls' assistant coach Joe Nutting for the 14th most in program history, while his four assists on the day push him past the 100 career assists mark as he becomes the third Owl to do so as he finishes his career with the third most in program history with 101 assists.
• Maccarini's 79 points on the season are tied for the sixth-most in a season by an Owl, while his 41 assists on the season are the most in a single season in program history.
• Cougler led the Owls with three caused turnovers on the day to bring his season total to 47 caused turnovers, the single season program record for KSC in just his sophomore season.
• Florian finished the contest with 11 saves, bringing his season total to 160, the 12th most saves in a season for KSC by a goalkeeper. His 524 career saves, and 26 wins are both the third most in program history by a goalkeeper.
• The Owls struggled on faceoffs over the season as KSC went 5-for-25 (20%) on the day and 43.1% on faceoffs on the season.

 
Up Next


Keene State's season ends at the hands of the Wolves for the third consecutive year as KSC finished their 2025 campaign with an 8-10 record.
No. 1 Western Connecticut will host either No. 2 University of Massachusetts-Boston or No. 3 Plymouth State University in the LEC Championship game on Saturday, May 3.