KEENE, N.H. – Prior to Saturday, none of the current members of the Keene State College men's lacrosse team had been part of a win over Plymouth State University but following the senior day ceremony honoring the Owls' 12 class of 2026 seniors, KSC held on for the 9-8 win for the first victory over PSU since 2022.

Records

• Keene State: 7-5 (3-2 LEC)
• Plymouth State: 5-6 (1-3 LEC)

How it Happened


 Both goalkeepers started the game on fire as Andrew Wiegand made three saves in goal for KSC, and Ethan Schena made six saves for the Panthers as both goalies kept the contest scoreless over the opening 13:08 of action. The Owls found the back of the net first, shortly after the Panthers' first penalty expired, Jake Dubiel got on the board for the opening goal of the contest. Hunter Richards almost tied the contest up soon after for PSU, but after hit shot rang off the crossbar, the ball bounced right to Kevin Cougler, who put it into the back of the net with a minute remaining in the first to send the contest into the second quarter tied at one apiece.
 
Schena made three saves to open the second quarter, but Ty Cougler wasn't going to let his brother be the only Cougler to score on the day as he caused a pair of turnovers for the Owls early in the second, including picking off Schena's pass on the edge of the crease for the easy goal to put KSC back ahead halfway through the quarter. A minute and a half later The Owls found the back of the net again as Dylan Seymour assisted Jack Ansart on his first goal of the day, before scoring his second, coming from Brady Levasseur to put KSC up 4-1 with 2:33 left in the quarter. Before the opening half was up, Ty Cougler continued to terrorize the Panthers as he caused yet another turnover to increase his program career record, and then rifled a shot in transition into the back of the net past Schena to give KSC a 5-1 lead heading into the second half.
 
Both teams traded goals over the opening 1:47 of the third quarter with Colby Walden scoring for PSU seven seconds into the quarter before Aidan Donohue caused a turnover on the Panthers' next possession leading to Dubiel's second goal of the day to put the Owls back up by four. Over the next 10 minutes, Schena made four saves in goal for PSU, while Wiegand made three saves for KSC, but the Panthers were able to send four other shots past him including another from each Kevin Cougler and Walden as PSU tied the game back up at six apiece late in the third. KSC bounced back in the final 1:05 of the third as Seymour assisted fellow senior Tim Souza for the goal to take the lead, before Sebastian Foresi assisted Seymour for a goal with 36 seconds remaining to put KSC ahead 8-6 heading into the fourth.
 
Walden opened the scoring with a goal 42 seconds into the final quarter, just as the Owls' penalty at the end of the third quarter was ending for the man-up goal to pull within one. Brady Levasseur helped increase the lead back to a pair just shortly after as he caused a turnover, leading to Seymour's second goal with 10:55 remaining in the contest. A minute and a half later, KSC had a 5-on-4 opportunity following penalties called in a scrum, but the Owls were unable to capitalize. Both teams had another man-up opportunity the rest of the contest, but they were also unable to capitalize, but it looked good for KSC as the Owls had a chance to kill the clock in the Panthers' defensive half with under two minutes to play, but a miscue by the Owls led to a turnover and PSU pulling within a goal with 54.4 seconds left on the clock. PSU won the ensuing faceoff and with a chance to tie the game up at nine each, Aiden Renner had a clear shot on goal, but Wiegand stood tall to make the save and deny the tying goal with 28 seconds remaining. Following another KSC turnover, the Panthers had one last chance in KSC's defensive half to try to draw even, but Dylan Fadale made his second caused turnover on the day to ice the game and to take down PSU for the first time in his collegiate career.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, KSC moves to 26-7 in the all-time series between the two teams, snapping the three-game losing streak.
• Seymour led the Owls with a game-high four points from two goals and two assists.
• Three other Owls recorded a pair of goals apiece as Ty Cougler, Ansart, and Dubiel each found the back of the net twice.
• Ty Cougler caused a game-high four turnovers over the contest, while collecting a team-high seven ground balls, surpassing the 200 career ground balls milestone, becoming just the fourth member in program history to achieve the mark.
• Wiegand made seven saves in the contest, while Schena made 16 for the Panthers.
• PSU had the advantage on faceoffs, holding KSC to 7-for-20 (35%).
• Both teams had 19 clears with KSC going 19-for-21 (90.5%) and PSU going 19-for-25 (76%).

 
Up Next


Keene State hits the road for their next contest in their first of three final regular season games on the road on Wednesday, April 15, at Vermont State Castleton University at 7:00 PM.
Plymouth State also plays on Wednesday, April 15 for their next contest, but at 6:30 PM as the Panthers host Salem State University.