MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Keene State College field hockey team scored twice in less than 11 minutes to open the game, led 3-0 at halftime, and then held off Eastern Connecticut State University for a 4-3 Little East Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.
The Owls (9-6, 2-2 LEC) moved back to .500 in conference play with the win and significantly helped their chances of a playoff home game, moving into a third-place tie with Western Connecticut State University (9-7, 2-2 LEC) although the Wolves have the head-to-head tiebreaker. KSC has three league games remaining, hosting the University of Massachusetts-Boston and the University of Southern Maine each of the next two Saturdays with a road trip to Vermont State University Castleton sandwiched between.
In a rematch of the 2025 Little East Conference championship game won by KSC on the same field to repeat as league champions – their 16th LEC title overall – the Owls dominated in the first half and took full advantage of their corner chances, scoring off three of their four opportunities in the first 30 minutes. Just 2:07 in,
Elyse Picard inserted the ball to
Norah Bargatti at the top of the circle, who passed to
Meghan Daileanes – the hero of the title game a season ago in a 1-0 win – and her shot skittered and bounced past Eastern Connecticut goalkeeper Veronica McKenna. Rookie standout
Henley Gilstrap made it 2-0 a little over eight minutes later, jumping on a loose ball in front of McKenna and backhanding it in with
Kayln Arnold also there scrapping for the ball. The corner play began with a similar pass to Bargatti, who found
Emma Bazin to her left before the Owl sophomore passed back to the other side with Arnold in the middle and Gilstrap behind her.
A different corner concept helped KSC make it 3-0 with 6:07 to go before halftime, with Arnold beginning the play and the ball eventually finding Picard toward the left side. She aimed to pass the ball across the circle but drew a foul on a diving defender, corralled the ball again as the referee played an advantage, and then sizzled a shot past McKenna to her right to cap off a first half that also saw the Owls allow just four total shots.
The Warriors got an early marker out of the locker room as Katie Harrington made it 3-1 just 3:49 into the third quarter, but KSC responded quickly as Arnold hit a wobbling centering pass that Gilstrap tipped just enough to redirect it into the back of the cage as she fell to make it a three-goal game again. The Owl rookie now has an impressive 14 goals in her first 13 career collegiate games, scoring in 10 different contests.
Limited to just seven shots over the opening 45 minutes, the Warriors (6-7, 1-2 LEC) made things interesting late, firing off nine shots in the fourth quarter alone and scoring twice. First, Audrey Molin netted her 15th goal of the season off a rebound with 6:11 to go to make it 4-2. It got even more interesting when Mackenzie Ray potted loose change of a
Tori Kelly save again with 1:18 left to make it a one-goal game, but KSC jammed up Eastern from there, not allowing a shot attempt to tie and keeping them out of the circle in the final seconds.
Kelly made three of her eight saves in the fourth quarter to get the win. Kate Paradise relived McKenna in the second half and made three saves after ECSU's starter did not record a save and allowed three goals.
KSC improved to 28-6 all-time in the series including a 13-3 mark at Rick McCarthy Field. They have beaten Eastern in five of the last six meetings.
The Owls return home for a non-conference game against Roger Williams University (10-5, 3-1 CNE) on Tuesday, October 20 for a 4:00 p.m. start. The Hawks have won two straight 2-1 games including in double overtime at home against Endicott College today after falling to national contenders Williams College 7-1 and Christopher Newport University 5-0 in the two games prior.
