GORHAM, Maine – After being shutout in their previous two matchups this season, the Keene State College women's ice hockey team ended their 2025-2026 regular season with a bang as the Owls defeated the University of Southern Maine 3-2, thanks to the second line accounting for all three goals and 47 saves in net by Ai Chung as she became the first Owl in program history to reach the 1,000 career save milestone.

Records

• Keene State: 10-15-0 (7-11-0 LEC)
• Southern Maine 10-14-1 (9-8-1 LEC)

How it Happened


Ai Chung opened the contest up for the Owls with five saves in net for the Owls, but the Huskies struck first as Jillian Jackson split the Owls' defense for a breakaway and buried a shot to put USM up by one 5:33 into the first period. After the Owls killed a penalty off shortly after Jackson's goal, it did not take long for KSC to respond right back as Tabby Jones picked up her first assist on the day, as did Emma McNeil, on Ellie Patrick's tying goal for the Owls 9:57 into the contest. With 5:50 remaining in the first, KSC was called for a major penalty, sending Ava Iantosca to the box for the next five minutes, but 1:16 into the opportunity, following three saves from Chung in net, USM was called for a minor penalty, sending the contest to 4-on-4 for the next two minutes. With 12 seconds remaining in the penalty for the Huskies, the Owls were called for another penalty, sending the contest to 4-on-3 for the remainder of the penalty for the Owls, which sent the game to 5-on-3 for the next 1:44. Chung held strong while the Huskies had the huge scoring opportunity with a pair of saves and a blocked shot from McNeil to kill off the two penalties for the Owls. In the final 33 seconds of the first both teams were called for a penalty as the second would start 4-on-4 for the first 1:27 of the period.
 
Megan Gawley had to make a pair of saves in the 4-on-4 action for the Huskies in the opening 1:27 of the second period to go with another pair of saves shortly after, while USM was on the power play due to the Owls' second major penalty of the day from the end of the opening period. The Huskies had another power play opportunity 6:49 into the period, but Chung held strong to make three saves to hold the Huskies off. Both goalies made five saves over the next six minutes before the Owls were able to find the back of the net again from Patrick's second goal of the day. Kenzley Goode sent a pass from behind the Owls' goal out to Jones, who made the pass over to Patrick before she weaved through the Spartans' defense for the go-ahead goal with 4:08 remaining in the second. Chung made a pair of saves the remainder of the period for the Owls to send KSC up 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of action.
 
Despite the Owls not having a shot on goal in the opening nine minutes of the third, including none during a power play opportunity, the first shot on frame in the period from KSC gave Jones' her third assist of the day as she assisted McNeil for the Owls' goal to take a 3-1 lead with 10:54 remaining in the contest. Following her four saves in the period prior to the Owls' third goal, Chung held her ground over the next five minutes as she made five more saves to prevent the Huskies from clawing back at the moment. With 6:07 remaining, KSC was called for yet another penalty, but KSC cleared it off with three saves from Chung, but 24 seconds after the penalty expired, Jackson scored her fourth goal over the past 24 hours for the Huskies to pull within a goal with 3:43 remaining. The remainder of the contest the Huskies continued to apply the pressure on Chung and the Owls' defense, but Chung made five more saves to go with a pair of blocked shots from the Owls' defense, before the Huskies' final shot went past the goal line just after the buzzer sounded and KSC held on for the 3-2 victory to pick up the three LEC points.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC improves to 1-2 in the all-time series between the two teams.
• Chung held strong for the Owls as she reached the 1,000 career save milestone, becoming the first Owl in program history to reach the mark, while recording 47 saves on the day, to go with her 47 saves on the day. Gawkey only made 15 saves in net for the Huskies in the defeat.
• After her 12-game scoring drought in the middle of the season, Patrick's two goals bring her average over the past two games to a goal a game as she had three goals and an assist across the three most recent games.
• Entering the game with four points on the season from two goals and two assists, Jones nearly matched her season point total as she assisted on all three goals for the Owls in the win.
• McNeil entered the game with two goals and an assist and also almost matched her season total prior in the win as she finished with a pair of points coming from her goal and assist. McNeil's goal was the eventual game-winner for her second game-winning goal of the season.
• Loreli Norman and Mallory Stuart both led the Owls with game-highs of three blocked shots apiece in part of KSC's 12 blocked shots.
• USM had the slight edge on faceoffs on the day, as KSC went 31-for-68 (45.6%) with Maddie DeSouza leading the way going 5-for-7 (71.4%).

 
Up Next
 
Keene State finishes the LEC regular season as the No. 5 seed in the inaugural season and will travel to take on No. 4 Vermont State University Castleton on Wednesday, February 25, at 6:00 PM in the LEC quarterfinals.