MANSFIELD, Conn. – With possibilities from hosting a home playoff quarterfinal game all the way to being left out of the Little East Conference tournament, the Keene State College men's lacrosse head had to win to control their postseason outcome on Friday night and the Owls did such, defeating the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors 11-8 to lock up the No. 4 seed in the LEC tournament to host a playoff game this upcoming week.
Records
- Keene State: 9-6 (5-3 LEC)
- Eastern Connecticut: 5-7 (3-5 LEC)
How it Happened
KSC jumped to a 2-0 lead in the contest as
Dylan Seymour assisted
Jaheim Lancaster for the opening goal 3:18 into the contest, and then picked up another assist on
Cole Ricardi's goal to put KSC ahead with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter. The Warriors responded with three goals over a 46 second span a couple of minutes later, including one man-up goal, as ECSU took their first lead of the contest. ECSU's lead did not last long as a caused turnover by
Dylan Fadale lead to
Jack Ansart assisting
Ben Tukey's game-tying goal with four seconds remaining in the first to send the game into the second quarter at three apiece.
KSC retook the lead a minute into the second quarter after
Jack Ricci won the faceoff, Ansart assisted
Sebastian Foresi for the Owls' fourth goal of the game. Three minutes later the Warriors responded right back as Anthony Mazza tied the game up again for ECSU. Later in the quarter both teams netted a goal apiece again with Seymour scoring for KSC with 4:43 left and ECSU responding just over two minutes later to make the score 5-5. KSC attempted to retake the lead heading back into the half, but Gregory Hilinski saved a shot from Lancaster and two other shots from the Owls hit the post as the game headed into the half tied at five apiece.
ECSU won the ensuing faceoff of the second half but turned the ball over without a shot on goal, whereas the Owls capitalized immediately with
Nicholas McNulty scoring 2:34 into the half to put KSC back ahead for their fourth lead of the game. KSC continued to pepper Hilinski in goal with eight shots over the next seven minutes, but he saved them all, allowing ECSU to tie the game up at six apiece. The third quarter ended just as the second quarter did, with KSC once again retaking the lead, this time on a goal from a man-up goal from Ansart, before the Warriors scored a goal of their own with 32 seconds remaining to tie the game at seven each heading into the final 15 minutes of the contest.
Just as the opening quarter, KSC opened the final quarter with a pair of goals to go up two with
Austin Fitts assisting
Nick Sullivan (after a pair of goals by
Andrew Wiegand in goal for the Owls), followed by Lancaster assisting Ansart putting the Owls ahead two with 10:31 left to play. Although unlike the first quarter, ECSU was unable to tie the game up again as they scored just one goal in response to cut the lead to one, 33 seconds later, before Ansart scored yet another goal with 7:33 to play to increase the lead back to two for the Owls. KSC held off the Warriors the rest of the way with Wiegand making two more saves and tacked on an insurance goal as Ansart assisted Seymour for the dagger to give KSC the 11-8 victory.
Inside the Crease
- With the win, KSC improves to 27-17 in the all-time series between the two teams, winning the 18 most recent matchups.
- Ansart led the Owls' attack, recording a game-high six points from game-highs of each three goals and three assists.
- Ansart, Ricardi, and McNulty each tied for a game-high four ground balls apiece.
- Wiegand made nine saves in goal for the Owls, while Hilinski made 14 saves for the Warriors.
- KSC had the slight edge on faceoffs, going 12-for-23 (52.3%), with Ricci leading the Owls going 11-for-22 (50%).
- The Owls went 1-for-2 (50%) on their man-up opportunities, while ECSU went 2-for-7 on their opportunities (28.6%).
Up Next
Keene State returns home as the No. 4 seed in the LEC tournament and will host No. 5 Plymouth State on Tuesday, April 28, at 6:00 PM.
Eastern Connecticut hits the road as the No. 6 seed in the LEC tournament and will travel to take on No. 3 University of Massachusetts-Boston on Tuesday, April 28, at 11:30 am.
