KEENE, N.H. – Thanks to Rhode Island getting three feet of snow, the 2026 home opener for the Keene State College men's lacrosse team came a few days earlier as the Owls hosted Johnson & Wales University (RI) on Sunday afternoon. Tim Souza led the Owls on the day with five goals for KSC as the Owls cruised to a 18-10 victory for their first win of the season.

Postgame Interview (Coach Theriault)
Postgame Interview (Tim Souza)

Records

• Keene State: 1-1
• Johnson & Wales (RI): 1-1

How it Happened

Dylan Seymour opened the game up for the Owls with a pair of goals over the opening seven minutes of the contest before Sebastian Foresi, Tim Souza, and Adam Scala each netted a goal over the following two minutes to put the Owls up 5-0 early on. Owls' starting goalie Andrew Wiegand made a save on the first shot he faced in goal, but shortly after JWU got on the board as Eddie Stradowski ended the Owls' scoring run to open the game. The rest of the opening quarter after Jack Ansart got on the board with his first goal of the game for KSC and Jack Ricci won the ensuing faceoff, Jaheim Lancaster assisted Caleb White for a goal to put KSC up 7-1 heading into the second quarter.
 
KSC opened the second quarter with a pair of goals, just as they ended the first quarter, with Souza scoring his second of the day and Sean Bosworth scoring his first of the season to put the Owls ahead 9-1, 3:20 into the second. Wiegand saved the first shot from JWU he faced in the second, but when he had to come out of the game and Cameron Smith entered for two minutes, Smith saved the first shot of the day he saw in goal to limit the Wildcats for the moment. With 6:10 remaining in the opening half, JWU scored their second goal of the game and Cameron Courchesne made three saves in net over the next five minutes for JWU. In the final 48 seconds of the half, White assisted Souza, Lancaster assisted Ansart, putting the Owls up 11-2 heading into the half.
 
Jacob Tresser opened the scoring for JWU in the second half as the Wildcats looked to hope to try to mount a comeback with Ethan Moshier making three saves in net shortly after for JWU after opening the second half in net. With 12:12 remaining in the third, JWU was called for a 30 second penalty and a two-minute locked in penalty and the Owls capitalized with a pair of goals. Ben Tukey picked up his first point of the season with an assist to Souza for the first goal and after Jackson Chase caused a turnover for KSC, Nicholas McNulty assisted Aidan Donohue for the second man-up goal in 33 seconds. Two minutes later JWU answered back with a pair of goals with Jack Davis assisting Jacob Graham for a pair of goals, including one man-up goal as JWU pulled within eight with 8:17 left in the third. Over the next two and a half minutes, KSC once again scored a pair of goals in a row, with White and Ansart both tallying two points apiece as White assisted Ansart for the first goal and Ansart assisted White for the second. The rest of the third quarter Wiegand saved three of five saves in net, but JWU netted two more goals as KSC took their 15-7 lead into the final 15 minutes of action.
 
Following a caused turnover by Ty Cougler, KSC opened the scoring in the fourth, with Scala scoring his third of the season, 2:58 into the final quarter. Moshier bounced back for JWU with six saves in a row, but eight minutes later, KSC scored a pair of goals over 36 seconds as Lancaster and Souza found the back of the net. JWU tacked on three more goals in the final three minutes, but it was too late to mount a comeback as the Owls held on for the 18-10 victory.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC improves to 1-0 in the first meeting between the two programs.
• Ansart led the way on the attack, tallying a career-high in points, with five, coming from his five goals.
• Ansart and White were close behind with Ansart scoring three goals and assisting one, while White had each two goals and assists.
• Both the Owls' goalies had a .500 SV% on the day with Wiegand making seven saves in his 49:52 in goal, while Smith entered back into the game late in the fourth and made three saves in his 10:08 in goal. Moshier made 12 saves in net for JWU in his 30 minutes of action.
• The Owls' defense held strong as KSC caused 17 turnovers with Cougler leading the way with a game-high of four, and Chase causing three. Cougler also led the Owls with a team-high eight ground balls.
• KSC held the Wildcats to 14-for-23 (60.9%) on clears, while the Owls went 15-for-18 (83.3%) on clears.
• The Owls had the advantage on faceoffs, going 18-for-31 (58.1%), with Ricci going 15-for-20 (75%).

 
Up Next


Keene State returns home for their next contest against Springfield College on Tuesday, March 3, at 5:00 PM.
JWU returns to action against Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Wednesday, March 4, at 6:00 PM.