KEENE, N.H. –
Henley Gilstrap opened the scoring less than five minutes in, added another to her mounting goal total right before halftime, and then her teammates spread the wealth as the Keene State College field hockey team scored four goals in the opening 10:05 of the second half in a runaway 7-0 win over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the conference opener for both teams Saturday at the Owl Athletic Complex.
Gilstrap has scored in every game she has played in and is now up to a team-leading nine goals (and 19 points) over her first six games. But KSC (5-2, 1-0 LEC) has featured a balanced attack so far this season, and it was again evident against a UMass-Dartmouth (1-5, 0-1 LEC) team the Owls beat for a ninth straight time and for the 19th time in 20 all-time tries in Keene.
After dominating the shot count and penalty corners despite a shutout loss on Wednesday, KSC was all over the Corsairs right away, earning three penalty corners in the first three minutes. UMD goalkeeper Shane Cueman made four saves in that span, but Gilstrap opened the scoring after
Grace Seabury moved around a defender, into the circle up the right side, and slid a centering feed perfectly for Gilstrap to sweep in.
Still down 1-0, UMass-Dartmouth had a pair of corners six minutes into the second quarter, but could not register a shot on target. The Owls took over from there, still dominating the game territorially, and eventually broke through again when Gilstrap pounced on a rebound bouncing in front to make it 2-0 with 56 seconds left in the half.
Meghan Daileanes took the initial shot, which was saved impressively mid-air by Sophia Bouffard, but the ball caromed around right in front for the Owls to capitalize.
KSC unleashed a barrage of goals right out of the half, as
Lilah Carr fed Daileanes for a goal that Bouffard could not save to make it 3-0 just 30 seconds out of the locker room.
Emma Bazin added another 1:32 later off a feed from Picard, and Seabury then tacked on a fifth goal at the 38:28 mark. Picard then put home a feed from Seabury from her own corner insert in the 41st minute to make it 6-0. In total, KSC scored four times (and also hit a post) in the opening 10:05 of the third quarter to run away from a game that never appeared to be in much doubt anyway, as the Owls allowed just one shot on goal and none on target that
Tori Kelly had to save until the fourth quarter.
Belle Hemond added a penalty stroke goal with 10:04 to go in regulation to pot her third goal of the season.
Keene State currently has seen eight different players score on the season, with six scoring at least three times.
KSC outshot UMD 24-9 including 19-1 on target and had an 11-7 edge in penalty corners.
The Owls wrap up a three-game homestand with a matchup against Smith College (3-4, 1-0 NEWMAC) on Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. The Pioneers won on the road at Wheaton College 3-1 this afternoon but had lost three of their previous four.
