KEENE, N.H. – A homecoming weekend that began with head coach Amy Watson being inducted into the Keene State College Athletics/Alumni Hall of Fame on Friday night ended with a familiar sight: an Owls win.  Elyse Picard broke the scoring ice in the game on the 20th and final Owl shot of the opening half to give KSC a halftime lead, and the Owls then tacked on two goals in 40 seconds midway through the third as they pummeled Fitchburg State University 4-0 on Saturday in a game that was never as close as the score indicated.

Postgame Interview (Coach Watson)…coming soon
Postgame Interview (Elyse Picard)…coming soon

Grace Bazin wound up scoring a natural hat trick, all in the second half, elevating her eye-popping season total to 13 in just six games, a total that leads Division III.  It is her second game with three goals this season and fifth multi-goal effort in six outings while also adding three assists.  She has recorded double-digit shots four times, and her 58 career goals as an Owl are now in a sixth-place tie with Tanya Strong on the all-time career list.  At her current pace, she would be on track to set the all-time single season goals record.

Despite a massive territorial edge, shots advantage, and 14 first half penalty corner chances, Fitchburg (3-2) goalkeeper Isabella Corcoran turned in a shining performance, particularly in an opening half where she made eight saves including five in the first quarter, three on Bazin.  The Owls had 10 corners in the second quarter alone, but it wasn't until Picard took a pass just inside the circle on the left from Belle Hemond at the top on a corner play and blasted it past Corcoran through traffic to put the Owls on the board with 24.5 seconds to go.

With momentum heading into the locker room, KSC pulled away in the third quarter, getting two goals in 40 seconds from Bazin.  The first came as a result of another corner opportunity as Jennifer Erikson passed short to Hemond right to her left, who slid a centering pass for Bazin to corral and fire into the back of the cage to make it 2-0 with 7:24 to go.  Less than a minute later off a 25-yard restart following a Corcoran save on a Kalina Piasecki shot, Lilah Carr found Bazin in the middle of the circle again with four Fitchburg defenders around her, and she still managed to flick a shot past Corcoran's left to make it 3-0.

Keene State did not relent, as Meghan Daileanes rushed up the right side early in the fourth quarter and sizzled a perfect pass to Bazin's stick, who completed the natural hat trick by lofting a shot to the top left corner for a 4-0 lead.

The Owls outshot the Falcons 32-3 in the game, including holding them without a shot attempt in the second half.  KSC also had all 20 penalty corners in the game while improving to 26-3 in the all-time series including 13-0 at home.

It was a fitting end to field hockey's homecoming weekend after head coach Amy Watson was inducted into the Keene State College Athletics/Alumni Hall of Fame on Friday night along with former women's soccer head coach Denise Lyons.  Dr. Stanley Yarosewick, former president of Keene State College, was also inducted into the Little East Conference Hall of Fame.  Watson, who now has 505 career victories, is aiming for her 15th NCAA tournament appearance this season.

The Owls' next three games are on the road, beginning with a trip to Western New England University (3-2, 1-0 CNE) on Wednesday night (September 17) at 7:00 p.m.