DANBURY, Conn. – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team traveled down to take on Western Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon to determine their seeding in the Little East Conference tournament in the regular season finale for upcoming week, but after going scoreless in the middle two quarters, KSC was unable to stick with the Wolves and the Owls fell in the end, 18-6.

Records

• Keene State: 7-10 (4-4 LEC)
• WestConn: 13-3 (8-0 LEC)

How it Happened


The first quarter was the closest of the four in the contest as WestConn outscored KSC by just one goal over the 15 minutes of action. Both teams tallied a pair of goals over the first 3:21 of the contest with Helen Baxter winning the opening draw control leading to Anna Maccarini assisting Tess Brown on the opening goal of the day 41 seconds in before WCSU tied the game up 1:21 later. Lola Varricchione won the ensuing draw control for the Owls and netted a goal of her own 38 seconds later to take the lead again before WestConn once again tied the game back up with 11:39 remaining in the quarter. 5:10 into the opening quarter the Wolves took their first lead of the game, capitalizing on a man-up opportunity, but the Owls answered back 3:09 later as Varricchione caused a turnover on defense and Brown assisted Maccarini for a man-down goal. For what ended up being their final time of the contest, KSC took the lead with 5:01 left in the first as Varricchione scored her second goal of the game, but WestConn capitalized on yet another KSC yellow card with a pair of man-up goals over 32 seconds to take a 5-4 lead into the second quarter.
 
Despite four saves in net for KSC over the second quarter by Katelyn Nicotera, the Wolves outscored KSC 6-0 over the second quarter and after the Wolves tacked on three more goals over the opening 2:42 of the third quarter, Mabelle Bessette entered as goalkeeper for KSC. The rest of the third quarter the Wolves tacked on just one more goal as Bessette made a pair of saves, including one on a free position shot, as WCSU took a 15-4 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
KSC got back on the board 40 seconds into the fourth with Brown's second goal of the game, but the Wolves responded right back with another pair of goals to go ahead by 12 with 7:42 remaining. Nearly two minutes later Riley Devine tallied goal number 20 of the season, coming from Varricchione, for KSC's last goal of the game, while the Wolves tacked on one more goal for Isabella Pota's seventh of the game to make the final 18-6 in the Wolves' favor.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, KSC falls to 21-11 in the all-time series, having lost the nine most recent matchups.
• Varricchione and Brown both led the Owls' attack with three points apiece as they each scored a pair of goals and picked up an assist.
• Brown recorded a game-high eight ground balls while also tying Baxter with a team-high four draw controls.
• Varricchione recorded a game-high four caused turnovers in the contest to go with three ground balls and two draw controls.
• Nicotera recorded a .30 SV% from her 20 shots faced in goal, making six saves over 33:35, while Bessette made four saves for a .50 SV% over her 26:25 in goal.
• KSC struggled on clears, only clearing 10 of their 19 attempts (52.6%), while WCSU cleared 16 of their 19 attempts (84.2).

 
Up Next


Keene State hits the road as the No. 6 seed in the LEC tournament and will take on No. 3 Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday, April 28, at 6:00 PM.
Western Connecticut finishes the season as the No. 1 seed and receives a first-round bye.