KEENE, N.H. – An old adage in sports is that a hot goalie can be a gamechanger. For one example, look no further than Wednesday night's Keene State College field hockey game. First year goalkeeper
Tori Kelly made 11 stops – eight combined over two ten-minute overtime periods – and then stopped four of five shots in a penalty shootout to help lift Owls to an entertaining 3-2 non-conference victory over Smith College at the Owl Athletic Complex Wednesday night.
It was a game that saw a number of significant momentum changes but ended with KSC's (5-2) fourth win in five tries at home this season. The Owls trailed 1-0 just 9:29 in when Anouk Bosket scored her first of two goals on the night but tied it with 6:32 to go in the first half as
Emma Bazin took a step in from near the top of the circle to sizzle a shot that might have hit a defender's foot and darted past Smith goalie Iseul Park. The play originated from a net drive and centering feed from
Henley Gilstrap that deflected out to Bazin. KSC's standout rookie then got into double-digits in goals just seven games into her collegiate career a little over two minutes into the second half to give her team their first lead, collecting a rebound of a
Meghan Daileanes shot from distance and moving slightly to her left to beat Park (and two defenders behind her) to make it 2-1.
The Bears (3-5) answered rapidly, as Bosket scored again immediately off a corner inserted by Halie Young to make it 2-2 just 1:13 later. From there, neither team found the back of the cage again until the penalty shootout – but there were plenty of chances and swings in momentum from there. Keene State dominated the fourth quarter, outshooting Smith 9-2 and having all seven penalty corner chances, but Park made five of her 11 saves in the final 15 minutes of regulation to deny the Owls a chance at a late winner.
Then came Kelly's time to shine, with an additional piece of help from standout defender
Elyse Picard. Smith thoroughly controlled the overtimes, peppering the Owls with 13 shots over the 20 minutes, but the Vermont native and KSC first year keeper made four stops in the first overtime including a double save on a bid for a hat trick by Bosket and Molly van Brunschot in the 67th minute. Picard then hit out a second rebound chance with her stick on a ball that was assuredly going to go in to help her team ward off one of five corners the Bears were awarded after regulation. Four came in the second overtime session, but Kelly denied Bosket 43 seconds in and then stopped Megan O'Connor twice in seconds with a little over two minutes to go. KSC did have their lone corner halfway through the second overtime, but
Grace Seabury was stopped by Park.
What came next – a penalty shootout – might have given the Owls and their supporters a fun reminder of past momentous wins, including most recently in last year's comeback Little East Conference semifinal victory over the University of Southern Maine. And Kelly was more than there again, flummoxing four of the five Smith shooters. Bazin gave KSC the upper hand with a goal in the second round, and after Kelly forced a miss by Ari Martinez,
Lucy Dickenson gave the Owls a 2-0 lead in the third round. The teams traded misses before Sam Sparling kept the Bears alive. Seabury had a chance to win it on her stick, but could not solve Park, but Kelly capped off an impressive effort by forcing Isabel Johnson to delay, run out of time, and shoot wide anyway.
Kelly has shined in her last three games encompassing 201:13, allowing just three goals while making 22 saves including a pair of efforts in double-digits sandwiched between a rocking chair 7-0 win over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday.
Park also finished with 11 saves for Smith, but the Bears fell to 2-8 in Keene all-time.
Keene State now embarks on a four-game road trip and will not be home again until Friday, October 9. The Owls first travel to take on Thomas College in Waterville, Maine on Saturday (September 26) for a 1:00 p.m. start before visiting nationally-ranked Endicott College, Plymouth State University, and the University of New England. Thomas went 14-6 a season ago including battling with eventual NESCAC champion Bates College in a 2-0 loss and Colby College in a 1-0 double overtime loss, but is 2-6 so far in 2026, losing four straight including 3-0 at Mount Holyoke College tonight. Samantha Thebarge has nine of the Terriers' 17 goals on the season.
