KEENE, N.H. – Despite two goals from Brianna Finke in the third period, the Keene State College women's hockey team fell short against the University of Vermont State Castleton Spartans as their four goals through the first two periods were too much for the Owls to overcome in the final period.

Records

• Keene State: 8-14-0 (5-10-0 LEC)
• Castleton 11-13-0 (7-10-0 LEC)

How it Happened


The Owls were on the attack early over the first four minutes of the contest, forcing the Spartans' defense to block a pair of shots and Castleton's goalkeeper, Gianna McCusker, to make three saves to make the contest early in the contest. On the other side of the ice, Castleton struck quick as Ai Chung saved the first shot she faced, but the rebound fell to Maddy Jorgenson, who put it into the back of the net to take the 1-0 lead, 4:56 into the contest. Castleton continued on the attack over the next 12 minutes as Chung made a save on the next 12 shots, while McCusker saved two over the same time span. With 2:57 remaining in the first, Castleton had their first power play opportunity of the day, but it did not amount to anything as KSC blocked four consecutive shots, including blocked shot number 100 of Ellie Patrick's collegiate career, and Chung made a save to finish killing the penalty off as the game went into the first intermission with the Spartans up 1-0.
 
Castleton scored quickly into the second period as Taylor Adams scored 31 seconds into the second period to put the Spartans up a pair. Over the next four minutes Castleton continued to apply the pressure, but Chung made eight more saves to limit the lead for the moment. Over the next seven minutes, the Spartans had a pair of power play opportunities, but after KSC killed off the first of the two, Castleton capitalized on the second of the pair as Meg Aiken scored the third goal of the game for VSCU with 7:16 remaining in the second period. With under six minutes remaining in the period the Owls had their first power play opportunity of the contest, but they were unable to capitalize as following the Spartans killing off their penalty, they tacked on their third goal of the period less than a minute later as Caris Erickson scored to take the 4-0 lead with 3:12 remaining in the period. Chung made three saves the rest of the period with Patrick and Maddie DeSouza blocking a shot each to head into the third period.
 
3:33 into the third period Brianna Finke started to lead the Owls' comeback attempt as Caroline Demeo assisted her for the first goal of the game with plenty of time left in the period. Over the next five minutes the Spartans were called for a pair of penalties, but just as it happened to the Owls in the second period, Castleton killed off the first penalty, but then KSC capitalized on the second power play opportunity. After intercepting a pass from Castleton, Finke weaved her way through the defense again and ripped a shot past McCusker to pull the Owls within a pair with 11:37 remaining in regulation. On the other side of the ice for the Owls, Chung made three saves over the next five minutes as with 6:06 remaining, Castleton was called for a pair of penalties, giving KSC a 5-on-3 opportunity for the next two minutes. Over the two-minute advantage, KSC only got a pair of shots on goal that McCusker saved, and the Spartans killed off the two penalties as the game moved to four minutes remaining for the Owls to continue their comeback. The rest of the way the Owls' attack was unable to get going as the Spartans held on for the 4-2 win over KSC in the first of the back-to-back contests.
 
Inside the Crease

• Keene State falls to 0-4 in the all-time series between the two teams.
• Chung finished the day with 45 saves in goal as it brings her career total to 893 over her first two years as an Owl, while McCusker made 17 saves in net for the Spartans.
• Finke's two goals increase her season-high of 11 goals for the Owls, while also bring her career total to a program-high 23 goals, passing Ava Iantosca's 22 career goals.
• DeSouza had a game-high six blocked shots, while Patrick recorded five more blocked shots as she became the first member across both the KSC women's and men's programs to reach the 100 career blocked shots milestone.
• Both teams went 1-for-5 on their power play opportunities on the day, with the Owls being unable to capitalize on their two minutes of 5-on-3 action.
• KSC had the slight edge on faceoffs on the day, going 27-for-53 (50.9%) as Iantosca dominated for the Owls, going 20-for-29 (69%).

 
Up Next
 
Both teams return to Keene ICE on Saturday afternoon as the Owls look to bounce back against the Spartans at 2:00 PM.