SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team took an early 2-1 lead in the opening quarter over Western New England University on Saturday, but following eight consecutive goals from WNE, the Owls were unable to mount a comeback as KSC fell, 12-8.

Records

• Keene State: 0-3
• Western New England: 1-3

How it Happened


WNE opened the scoring with a goal only a minute and seven seconds into the game, but following a draw control by Riley Devine, KSC answered right back as Lola Varricchione scored a free position goal 28 seconds later to knot the game back up. 1:21 later following Varricchione causing a turnover, Devine assisted Tess Brown to give the Owls the lead. Unfortunately for the Owls, Brown's goal was the last goal for KSC in the opening quarter as the Golden Bears went on to score six goals the rest of the quarter, while WNE's goalie, Emily Picolla made five more saves to give WNE a 7-2 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
The Golden Bears continued the scoring run in the second quarter as Picolla made three more saves and WNE scored a man-up goal 6:42 into the second. After entering the game near the end of the opening quarter for KSC, Katelyn Nicotera made three saves in net in the second quarter, but WNE tacked on one more goal with 1:16 in the opening half to take a 9-2 lead into the halftime break.
 
Picolla made three saves to open the third quarter and Nicotera saved a free position shot before Western Mass. native Anna Maccarini caused a turnover on a WNE transition leading to her assisting Varricchione's goal for the Owls' third of the day, 6:20 into the third. 2:24 later the Owls found the back of the net again as Brown caused a turnover, leading to Helen Baxter assisting her for a goal shortly as the Owls started to try to mount the seven-goal comeback attempt. Varricchione netted her third of the game for the third goal in a row for KSC, coming on a man-up goal as the Owls pulled within four with 4:15 remaining in the third. Maccarini nearly had a free position attempt with the opportunity to bring KSC within three two minutes later, but her shot hit the post and Ella Henry scored a free position goal to stop the Owls momentum on the other end of the field, putting WNE up 10-5 heading into the fourth.
 
Both teams traded goals in the opening 4:14 of the fourth as Varricchione assisted Brown for the Owls' goal, hoping to build momentum to overcome the five-goal deficit. Unfortunately for KSC, WNE netted another goal and despite man-up goals from Varricchione and Brown, the Owls' comeback came up short and WNE came away with the 12-8 victory.
 
"It was another tough start for us, but I'm really happy with the back 3 quarters of the game. We have been looking to piece together 4 quarters and this was a big step forward" said Owls' head coach Travis Wyant. "The team did a good job adjusting to lineup changes. People stepped up and roles changed, we handled all of that well. We learned a lot from this one."
 
Inside the Crease

• With the defeat, KSC falls to 3-7 in the all-time series against WNE.
• Varricchione led the Owls with a game-high five points from a game-high four goals and an assist.
• Brown was close behind with four points from three goals and an assist for KSC.
• With Brown's eight draw controls, she set the new career record with 224 and counting.
• Nicotera recorded six saves in net over her 48:02 of action for the Owls, while Picolla made 16 saves for WNE.
• KSC had the advantage on draw controls, winning 15 of 22 (68.2%).

 
Up Next


Keene State returns home for their next two games with the first of the two coming against Endicott College on Tuesday, March 10, at 4:00 PM.
WNE is on the road for their next two games over their spring break as the Golden Bears take on Delaware Valley University in South Carolina on Tuesday, March 10, at 9:30 am for their next game.