MANSFIELD, Conn. – Following their one-goal defeat earlier in the year on the road at Eastern Connecticut State University, the Keene State College women's lacrosse team was hoping for a different outcome on Tuesday night back on the road in the Little East Conference Championship quarterfinals, but the Owls were unable to stop the Warriors' attack as ECSU ended the Owls' season for a consecutive year with a 14-4 final score.
Records
- Keene State: 7-11 (4-4 LEC)
- Eastern Connecticut: 9-7 (6-2 LEC)
How it Happened
Eastern got on the board early and racked up the goals, jumping to a 7-0 lead over the first 15 minutes of action.
Katelyn Nicotera made a save on the first shot that she saw in net for KSC, but the next seven shots from ECSU found the back of the net, with ECSU taking the 1-0 lead 2:58 into the contest. KSC tried to tie the contest up at one apiece shortly after with
Lola Varricchione winning the ensuing draw control, but her shot on net was saved by Maizie Rukat to hold onto the lead for the Warriors. The rest of the opening quarter ECSU tacked on six more goals as
Mabelle Bessette entered as goalkeeper after KSC fell behind 7-0 with 3:01 remaining in the contest, while Rukat made two more saves in the quarter heading into the second.
ECSU capitalized on man-up opportunities with a pair of goals over the opening 6:26 of the second quarter.
Tess Brown recorded career point number 246 for the Owls to stop thee scoring run by the Warriors as she assisted on
Helen Baxter's goal with 7:43 remaining in the half. ECSU responded with a goal 38 seconds later, but after Bessette made a save on a free position shot, Brown tallied a goal on the other side of the field shortly after for her 43rd of the season. With just over a minute remaining in the half, Brown increased her program record for career caused turnover by causing a turnover, leading to KSC's third goal of the game as
Anna Maccarini assisted Carly Diwinski for the man-up goal to bring the score to 10-3 heading into halftime.
Just like the first quarter, KSC was held scoreless over the third quarter, but on the bright side, ECSU was held to just two goals over the 15 minutes of action. Both of the two goals from the Warriors came 64 seconds apart in the opening three minutes of the third, while Bessette made three saves in the quarter to limit the contest to 12-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
After a save at the end of the third by Rukat, the Warriors started the fourth with possession and scored in their opening possession to increase the lead to 10 with 13:35 remaining. With 6:23 remaining ECSU tacked on what wound up being their final goal of the game on a free position shot to increase the lead to 11. With under three minutes remaining,
Anna Maccarini tallied her second assist of the day as she assisted on
Jenna Braga's first career collegiate goal, a man-up goal, becoming the 12th Owl to record a goal on the season. The rest of the way KSC was unable to mount the comeback as the Warriors ended the Owls' season, 14-4.
Inside the Crease
- With the loss, KSC falls to 19-22 in the all-time series between the two teams.
- Brown and Maccarini both tallied a team-high two points apiece with Brown recording a goal and an assist, while Maccarini recorded two assists.
- Bessette recorded six saves in net for the Owls and ends her career at KSC with 270 saves, the sixth most in program history.
- Brown finished the game with a game-high five ground balls, increasing her career program record to 306 career ground balls, while also recording a game-high five caused turnover, increasing her career program record to 243 caused turnovers, and her two draw controls finishing setting the career program record for draw controls at 286.
- Brown's 83 ground balls on the year ranked the third-most in a season in program history, while her 54 caused turnovers rank the sixth most, and 74 draw controls rank the seventh most in program history in a season.
- Varricchione recorded a game-high seven draw controls in the contest for the Owls.
- KSC struggled on clears, going 15-for-26 (57.8%), while ECSU went 15-for-21 (71.4%).
Up Next
Keene State's season comes to a close against ECSU for the second consecutive season with the defeat, bring the Owls' record to 7-11 on the year.
ECSU advances to the LEC semifinals at the University of Southern Maine on Thursday, April 30, at 6:00 PM.
