KEENE, N.H. – Alec O'Connor scored his second goal of the game 1:34 into overtime after the Keene State College men's ice hockey team iced the puck as the Owls fell 3-2 to Saint Anselm College in the season-opener on Saturday night at Keene Ice.
Postgame Interview (Coach Rodrigue)
KSC (0-1-0), coming off a seven-win season in their first experience in the Little East Conference is aiming to take more steps forward this season, but will enter league play next weekend off a disappointing loss in their opener against a Hawks (1-1-0) team that lost 8-4 at the University of Massachusetts-Boston last night.
The Owls outshot St. Anselm 46-22 and had a pair of power play goals, including less than seven minutes in when
Thor Hansen potted a rebound for his first of the season, but KSC did not score again until
Marcus Chrisafideis halfway through the second tied it with a man-up goal of his own as he picked the top right corner. St. Anselm had taken the lead by scoring twice in less than two minutes early in the second period, with O'Connor lighting the lamp for a power play goal for the visitors before Sean Connolly scored the only 5-on-5 goal of the game just 1:57 later.
Keene State had a 14-4 edge in shots in the third period with it still 2-2 but could not find the back of the net. The Owls also had the first two shots of the overtime, both saved by PJ Benites, and after a St. Anselm faceoff win following an icing on the other end, O'Connor buried their first shot of overtime, beating
Ben Skelton to his right.
Every game in the three-game all-time series between the two teams, which will become league rivals next season, has been decided by a goal. KSC had won the first two, including last year's victory on Halloween on the road.
Benites finished with a whopping 44 saves – 30 in the second and third periods. Skelton made 19 stops in the loss.
Payton Kender and
Josh Steele both had assists in their Owl debuts, with Kender a sophomore transfer from Rivier University and Steele a senior transfer from Plymouth State University.
The Owls will have a road LEC weekend next, visiting Babson College on Friday, November 6 for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop and the University of Southern Maine on Saturday (November 7) at 4:00 p.m. Babson opened their season with a 5-5 tie against St. Michael's College, with the Purple Knights taking the shootout 1-0.
