CASTLETON, Vt. –
Elyse Picard notched two assists and the Keene State College field hockey team saw three different people score as they built a three-goal lead in an eventual 3-1 victory over Vermont State University Castleton in Little East Conference action at Dave Wolk Stadium Tuesday night.
The win clinches at least one playoff home game for the Owls (11-7, 4-2 LEC), who close the regular season Saturday at the Owl Athletic Complex against the University of Southern Maine. The Huskies ensured the regular season title outright with a 3-1 win over Plymouth State University in Gorham tonight, a result that also could help the Owls move up to second and get a quarterfinal bye should KSC beat the Huskies and Western Connecticut State University down Plymouth on Saturday. The Owls are guaranteed to finish no lower than third regardless of the results on the final day of the regular season.
KSC played from ahead for nearly the final 50 minutes after
Norah Bargatti opened the scoring with 4:26 left in the first, including a decided territorial advantage in the middle two quarters in which they racked up a whopping 15 penalty corners and outshot Castleton (6-10, 3-3 LEC) 13-5. The Owls had 10 of their 18 total corners in the second quarter alone and eventually broke through on the last of them, with
Grace Seabury whacking home a second chance after Izabella Cosden stopped a try from
Belle Hemond.
The Owls picked up right where they left off out of the locker room, forcing Cosden to make two saves within seconds in the first three minutes before earning four corners over the next three minutes. They broke through again on a beautiful double-deflection goal off another of those opportunities, as
Kayln Arnold inserted to the top and tipped home the initial shot by Picard that was also deflected on the way in to the opposite post by
Elle MacDonald.
KSC picked up a pair of yellow cards late and the Spartans controlled the action in the fourth – although they never threatened substantially. The home team spoiled the shutout with 1:50 to go on Megan Wetmore's first goal of the season to make it 3-1, but their final shot attempt was blocked as the Owls moved back over .500 on the road at 5-4.
Tori Kelly stopped six of seven shots to pick up the win for KSC in the cage while Cosden made eight stops in the losing effort. The Owls had an 18-7 edge in corners overall.
"We did a great job executing our plan tonight," said Owls head coach
Leslie Smith. "I am proud of their discipline, hard work, and teamwork. It always feels good to win on the road and we are thrilled to be back home for our regular season finale."
The Owls have dominated the all-time series, winning 17 of 21 all-time meetings including each of the last three. Unless the two teams meet in the conference tournament, it will be the final matchup between the two teams as Little East Conference members after Castleton moves to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) beginning next year.
KSC and Southern Maine (13-6, 6-0 LEC) will begin at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday (October 31), a Halloween weekend that also sees the conference soccer playoffs and ice hockey regular season both get underway. The Huskies have won four straight since a 4-0 loss to then-3-11 Thomas College on October 14.
