Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Opening the season on the road, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team kicked off their season with a 3-1 first quarter lead over Western New England University, but the following three quarters the Owls were outscored 9-4 the rest of the way, despite 16 saves in net in
Andrew Wiegand's first collegiate start for the Owls.
Records
- Keene State: 0-1
- Western New England: 1-1
How it Happened
The Owls opened the scoring with their first goal of the season coming 5:16 into the contest as a turnover caused by Brady Levasseur led to
Jaheim Lancaster assisting
Nicholas McNulty on the opening goal. 3:22 later WNE answered back as Wiegand saved the opening four shots from the Golden Bears, but Logan Proctor was eventually able to fire a shot by him to tie the contest up. Owls' freshman
Jake Antuna won the ensuing faceoff for the Owls in his first collegiate attempt, and it paid off immediately as 1:15 after WNE's tying goal,
Dylan Seymour assisted
Caleb White to put the Owls back ahead. Late in the first quarter with 1:30 remaining, following a caused turnover on a WNE transition from
Ty Cougler,
Jack Ansart, the Owls' leading returning point scorer from the 2025 season, put the Owls ahead by a pair heading into the second quarter with his first goal of the season.
KSC was called for their first penalty 1:20 into the second quarter, but after the Owls killed WNE's extra-man opportunity off, the Golden Bears scored shortly after as Dylan Nardone found the back of the net to pull within a goal. Just over two minutes later, Nardone found the back of the net again to tie the game up at three apiece with 7:41 remaining in the first half. The rest of the Owls' opening half of the season they were unable to get going, as KSC only recorded one shot on goal in the second quarter, while Wiegand bounced back by making four saves the rest of the half to hold the contest to 3-3 heading into the half.
The third quarter was all WNE as the Golden Bears started to pull away, outscoring the Owls 5-1 over the 15-minute period. Both teams traded goals in the opening 2:49 of the third as Josh Gagnon put WNE ahead for the first time on the day with a goal, but less than a minute later,
Adam Scala answered back with his first goal of the season to tie the game back up at 4-4. With 8:30 remaining in the third, Max Rudgers put WNE back up a goal, and a few minutes later the Golden Bears increased the lead to three as Thomas Labbe and Proctor each scored a goal 45 seconds apart. With just under a minute remaining in the third, WNE tacked their last goal of the quarter, as both goalies made one more save the rest of the third, bringing their total shots saves to five apiece across the 15 minutes.
KSC started to mount a comeback in the opening five minutes of the third quarter as Seymour netted a pair of goals, coming from
Jake Dubiel and Scala to pull within a pair with 10:12 remaining. Proctor responded right back to increase WNE's lead back to three less than a minute later, but following a save by Wiegand on the Golden Bear's next shot, KSC answered back with 6:51 remaining as Dubiel netted hit first goal of the season. Just as he did a few minutes prior, Proctor responded immediately for WNE with his fourth goal of the day, coming with 6:17 remaining. The rest of the contest the Owls' attack was shut down as WNE prevented KSC's comeback attempt with each goalie making a save in net the remainder of the way.
Inside the Crease
- With the loss, KSC falls to 3-11 in the all-time series between the two teams, with WNE winning the eight most recent matchups.
- Seymour led the Owls on the attack with three points, coming from two goals and an assist, while Scala and Dubiel each recorded a goal and assist apiece.
- Wiegand made 16 saves in his first career collegiate start for the Owls, while Chase Beyus made 13 saves in net for WNE.
- Both teams went 0-for-3 on their extra-man opportunities in the contest.
- WNE had the edge on faceoffs, as KSC went 6-for-20 (30%) on the day.
- KSC went 19-for-20 (95%) on clears on the day, while WNE went 19-for-22 (86.4%).
Up Next
Keene State returns home for their next contest as their originally scheduled contest at Johnson and Wales University has now been moved to the Owl Athletic Complex on Sunday, March 1, at 12:00 PM, at the moment.
WNE is at home for their third consecutive home game to open the season for their next matchup as the Golden Bears will host the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on February 28, at 1:00 PM.
