PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team continued their momentum on their spring break trip on Thursday afternoon as they followed up their first two wins of the season with a balanced attack for a 9-5 victory over Ramapo College to increase the win streak to three games.

Records

• Keene State: 3-5 (1-0 LEC)
• Ramapo: 3-4 (0-0 NJAC)

How it Happened


Just like the first game of the spring break trip for the Owls, KSC opened the scoring in the first quarter, followed by their opponent tying the game up at one, before the Owls retook the lead 2-1 heading into the second quarter. After being held scoreless for just the third time in her collegiate career in the previous game for KSC on Tuesday, Lola Varricchione opened the scoring on a free position goal 6:08 into the contest. 1:42 later the Roadrunners drew even as Kassidy Baez scored a free position goal of her own, but with under three minutes remaining in the opening quarter following KSC killing off a yellow and green card, Varricchione scored her second goal of the game to give KSC the 2-1 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
Following a flurry of cards in the beginning of the second quarter, with five on RC and four on KSC, Tess Brown recorded career goal number 150 6:56 into the quarter with both teams down a player to take a 3-1 lead. 3:16 later Ramapo pulled within one again, but it only took a minute and 12 seconds before Brown assisted Varricchione for her third goal of the game. The rest of the opening half KSC's goalkeeper Katelyn Nicotera made her second save of the day to preserve the 4-2 lead for the Owls heading into the halftime.
 
Ramapo opened the scoring 5:37 into the third quarter, but Nicotera rebounded making three saves, including one on a free position shot, over a 38 second span. With 6:19 remaining in the third quarter, RC tied the game up once again as Baez assisted Bethany Glaser for the tying goal forcing KSC to call a timeout to attempt regain their lead soon after. 1:51 after the timeout by KSC, the Owls retook the lead as Hayden Smith assisted Kayln Arnold on her first career collegiate goal on a man-up opportunity following yet another card on Ramapo. Daniella Indomenico, the Roadrunner's starting goalkeeper, bounced back and made her third and fourth saves of the quarter in the minute following Arnold's goal, which led to RC tying the game up at five apiece with 1:40 remaining in the third. Nicotera stood strong on the next shot from the Roadrunners as she made the save leading to a good clear for the Owls and Brown assisting Smith for the eventual game-winning goal with 19 seconds remaining for the 6-5 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of the contest.
 
Helen Baxter started the scoring in the fourth quarter with her first goal of the game to put the Owls up a pair with 13:09 remaining to play. Both goalkeepers made a save over the next 10 minutes as both teams traded possessions back-and-forth as the clock started to wind down before the Owls struck again. With 1:28 remaining Anna Maccarini helped the Owls put the game away as she assisted Anya Dinger's first career collegiate goal to put KSC up a pair with little time remaining. Brown won the ensuing draw control and Baxter delivered the dagger with 50 seconds remaining as Smith assisted her second goal of the day to give KSC the 9-5 victory.
 
"I'm really proud of this team for this one! We were able to close out a really intense matchup in the 4th," said Owls' head coach Travis Wyant. "We made some specific time management changes from the Hartwick game that let us hold and even push our lead at the end of the game."
 
Inside the Crease

• Nicotera held strong for the Owls in goal again as she made seven saves on the 12 shots that she faced for a 58.3 SV%.
• Three Owls recorded three points in the game as Varricchione recorded three goals, while Brown and Smith both recorded a goal and two assists apiece.
• With her goal in the win, Tess Brown becomes the seventh Owl to reach the 150-career goal milestone as she also moves into 13th in program history for career assists with her two in the game, bringing her career total to 62 assists.
• Brown also increased her program record for career ground balls and career draw controls with her game-high four ground balls and game-high five draw controls, while also increasing her career caused turnovers to 210 as an Owl from her game-high of three caused turnovers as she sits 11 caused turnovers away from setting the program record.
• Arnold and Dinger both tallied their first collegiate goals for the Owls in the victory.
• KSC had the advantage on draws, going 9-for-15 (60%) as Brown led the Owls with five wins and Varricchione won the other four.
• The Owls continued to have a tough time on clears, going 15-for-24 (62.5%), while Ramapo went 12-for-20 (60%).

 
Up Next


Keene State continues their five consecutive road games as the Owls travel to take on Framingham State University for the fourth of the five games for their next contest on Wednesday, March 25, at 7:00 PM.
Ramapo also plays in their fourth consecutive road game for their next contest as they travel to take on Drew University on Monday, March 23, at 4:00 PM.