KEENE, N.H. – Kicking off their 2026-2027 season at home, the Keene State College women's ice hockey team went into an early three-goal deficit, but the Owls were only able to pull within a pair later on as Albertus Magnus College pulled away to spoil KSC's season opener at home.
Records
- Keene State: 0-1
- Albertus Magnus: 1-0
Postgame Interviews (Coach Morgan/Coach Mercier)
How it Happened
The Falcons opened the scoring early in the contest with three consecutive shots shortly apart, with the first two being saved by KSC's goaltender
Abby Tanner, but Delaney Schlechtweg put her rebound past Tanner to score 2:54 into the contest. Just 49 seconds later AMC scored again as Kalyn Reynolds broke free past the Owls' defense and beat tanner one-on-one to take the 2-0 lead. Tanned bounced back with a save on her next shot that she faced before KSC was called for their first penalty of the season, resulting in Tanner making five saves and the Owls' penalty kill unit blocking a pair of shots to kill the penalty off. Tanner continued to make three more saves before the Falcons were called for a penalty of their own, but the Owls were only able to get a pair of shots off that Christmas Johnson saved as AMC killed their first penalty of the season off, too. 50 seconds after the action returned to even strength, Albertus Magnus netted their third goal of the game as Sarah Tatro put the Falcons up three with 7:31 remaining in the period. The remainder of the period, Tanner made six more saves before exiting due to an injury as
Ai Chung played the remaining 1:58 of the opening period in goal for the Owls without seeing a shot as the Falcons held onto their 3-0 lead heading into the second period.
KSC opened the second period on the penalty kill for another 1:03 and easily killed it off, not allowing a shot on goal over the two-minute advantage for the Falcons. After KSC killed off their penalty, AMC was on the attack as Chung made her first three saves of the game and
Caroline Demeo and
Estelle Blanchet each blocked a shot on defense for the Owls before KSC was called for yet another penalty 5:23 into the second period.
Ava Iantosca won the ensuing faceoff for the Owls, but the Falcons were able to get four shots off over the power play and Chung held strong with four saves to kill the penalty off. After Chung made yet another three more saves,
Brianna Finke opened the scoring for the Owls as
Kenzie Oram tallied her first collegiate point with an assist as she and Iantosca assisted Finke for the Owls' opening goal of the season, 9:24 into the second period. 1:39 after Finke's goal both teams got called for a roughing penalty, sending the game to 4-on-4, but neither team capitalized as Chung saved all three shots she faced in goal over the two minutes. The rest of the second period Chung made seven more saves and Demeo and
Maddie DeSouza each blocked a shot for KSC, while Johnson made four more saves to preserve the 3-1 lead for the Falcons heading into the third.
Both teams killed off a penalty to open the third period before the Falcons struck first in the third as Jaelyn Beauvais had her initial shot saved by Chung, but the rebound fell right to Julia Vacca, who buried her shot to put the Flacons ahead 4-1. 6:57 into the third AMC had another chance to increase their lead from another KSC penalty, but the Owls easily killed it off before the Falcons were called for a penalty of their own shortly after. KSC peppered Johnson in goal with four shots over 14 seconds and after she saved the first three, Iantosca collected the loose puck in front of the goal and fired it home for the powerplay goal to cut the deficit to two with 9:00 remaining. Just over two minutes later the Owls were called for their eighth penalty of the game, and it only took nine seconds for AMC to score as Chung saved the initial shot and Reynolds found the back of the net to increase the lead back to three. KSC called their timeout after the Falcons' goal and two minutes later recorded penalty number nine of the day before Finke found the back of the net again on the penalty kill as she fired a shot past Johnson with 3:53 remaining on the unassisted shorthanded goal. The momentum was favoring the Owls with a pair of penalties being called against the Falcons just 16 seconds apart, sending the game to 4-on-3 for 31 seconds and 5-on-3 for 1:13, but Johnson held strong making three saves over the 5-on-3 and another two in 6-on-4 with Chung being pulled for the extra skater. In the closing minute, both teams were called for offsetting penalties as the game went to 5-on-4, but Johnson made two more saves to deny the Owls' comeback attempt and AMC held on for the 5-3 victory over the Owls.
Inside the Crease
- Keene State falls to 0-1 in the all-time series between the two teams.
- Finke picked up where she left off from being the Owls' leading goalscorer a season ago with 12 goals in 2025-2026 as she recorded a pair of goals in the defeat. Iantosca recorded two points two from a goal and assist for KSC.
- AMC had the slight advantage on draws, going 36-for-70 (51.4%), while Iantosca led the Owls going 14-for-22 (63.6%).
- Tanner made 18 saves over her 18:02 in net to open the game, while Chung played the remaining 40:44 before being pulled for the extra skater and made 28 saves.
- After an LEC-high 79 blocked shots, Ellie Patrick did not skip a beat in her return to Keene Ice with a game-high three blocked shots, while DeSouza and Demeo both tallied a pair of blocked shots apiece.
- KSC's 10 penalties tie their season-high from the 2025-2026 season, also tied for the second-most penalties in a game in program history.
Up Next
Keene State next plays in Little East Conference action as the Owls travel to take on No. 2 Norwich University on Friday, November 6, at 6:00 PM.
Albertus Magnus returns to action on short rest as they have their home opener against Johnson and Wales University (R.I.) on Saturday, October 31, at 4:00 PM.
