BIDDEFORD, Maine – Following a back-and-forth opening half and being down two goals in the third quarter, the Keene State College men's lacrosse team scored six consecutive goals across the third and fourth quarters to take the 10-7 win on the road Saturday against the University of New England.

Records

• Keene State: 2-2
• University of New England: 1-3

How it Happened


The reigning Little East Conference goalkeeper, Andrew Wiegand, made a pair of saves for the Owls in the opening 2:45 of the game before Nicholas McNulty assisted Dylan Seymour for KSC's opening goal of the contest just 16 seconds later. 1:30 later UNE responded as Shea Fogarty scored his first goal of the game for the Nor'easters. A couple minutes after the tying goal as both teams traded possessions, Ty Cougler caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, his second of the day, which set the career caused turnover record for KSC with his 87th caused turnover in just his junior season. The rest of the opening quarter both teams continued to hold strong on defense with UNE's goalie, Eli Allaire, making six more saves to keep the contest tied at one apiece heading into the second quarter.
 
UNE opened the second quarter with a pair of goals over 2:25, with one man-up goal, as UNE took a 3-1 lead with 9:33 remaining in the opening half. The Nor'easters had another opportunity to strike again with another KSC penalty, but another caused turnover by Cougler led to the Owls killing the penalty off and they soon after scoring on their man-up chance as Jack Ansart assisted Ben Tukey on his first goal of the day. The one-goal difference did not last long for KSC at the moment as UNE won the ensuing faceoff and scored 39 seconds later to increase the lead back to a pair. Wiegand bounced back for the Owls, saving the next two shots in as many minutes, leading to the Owls drawing even again on the other side of the field soon after. Jake Dubiel assisted Tukey's second goal of the day 36 seconds after Wiegand's second save and after Jack Ricci won the ensuing faceoff and KSC called a timeout, Tukey scored again to tie the game at four with 2:34 remaining in the second quarter. Wiegand tacked on one more save the rest of the opening half, sending the game into halftime at four to four.
 
Just as UNE did in the second quarter, they opened the third quarter with a pair of goals, to take a 6-4 lead 6:40 into the third. It did not take long for the Owls to respond right back as just over two minutes later McNulty pulled the Owls within a goal and despite four saves from Allaire, Cole Ricardi tied the game up for KSC with his first goal of the season in his first appearance with 2:54 remaining in the quarter. Allaire held strong the rest of the third as he made three more saves, but Aidan Donohue caused a pair of turnovers to keep the UNE attack away and keep the game tied heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
 
The Owls used their momentum from the end of the third immediately in the fourth to take their first lead of the day as Ricci won the opening faceoff and scored within six seconds to take a 7-6 lead. KSC tacked on a pair of goals over the next five minutes as Ansart scored a pair of goals, including the second coming from Caleb White for a man-up goal to go up by three. The Owls sixth consecutive goal came from Seymour with 6:26 remaining to go up by four, which would up being KSC's final goal of the day as he scored the first and last goal for the Owls. UNE answered 1:27 later on another man-up goal to pull within three, but it was the last goal scored on the day as the Owls' defense held strong the remainder of the contest and KSC came away with the 10-7 victory.
 
"I think we turned things around in the fourth quarter by starting to play like we can" said Owls' head coach Mark Theriault. "We did great on faceoffs today and it was a great game from Tukey for us today."
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC remains perfect against UNE, moving to 9-0 in the all-time series between the two teams.
• Entering the contest with just one assist over the first three games of the season, Tukey recorded a career-high three goals in the victory.
• Ansart also recorded three points from a pair of goals and an assist, while Seymour had a pair of goals and McNulty had two points from a goal and assist.
• Cougler and Donahue both finished the day with a game-high four caused turnovers, as Cougler moves to 89 career caused turnovers, increasing the lead on his program record. Cougler also had a game-high eight ground balls in the win.
• KSC had the advantage on faceoffs on the day, going 15-for-21 (71.4%) with Ricci leading the way going 15-for-19 (78.9%).
• Both teams went 2-for-4 (50%) on extra-man opportunities, while KSC went 19-for-21 (90.5%) on clears compared to UNE going 17-for-24 (70.8%).

 
Up Next


Keene State has a week off before their next game as the Owls will travel to take on Rhodes on Sunday, March 15, at 2:00 PM.
UNE plays against Maine Maritime Academy for their next contest on Tuesday, March 10, at 5:00 PM.