BEVERLY, Mass. –
Meghan Daileanes recorded a beautiful goal off a net-front rush with 2:58 to go in regulation to tie the game, but the Keene State College field hockey team saw their bid for a road win over a nationally-ranked team come up just short as they fell to No. 16 Endicott College 2-1 with a minute left in overtime in a non-conference game Wednesday night at North Field.
Looking for a marquee victory in head coach
Leslie Smith's first season, the Owls (7-3) fought all night, keeping the game at 1-0 for nearly 40 minutes before Daileanes' late equalizer. First year goalkeeper
Tori Kelly made 11 saves in an impressive near-70 minute effort, with three coming in the extra session as the Gulls (8-2) earned five of the six corners. It was the last of three in succession that delivered Endicott's game-winner with 59 seconds left in overtime, as Allison Fijux executed a perfect tip of Abby Antonelli's point blast from the top of the circle following Elena Govoni's corner insert.
KSC has been no stranger to thrilling contests this season, with seven of their 10 games being decided by a single goal – two in overtime (0-2) and one in a penalty shootout.
Tonight proved no exception and was tight all evening despite Govoni picking the right side of the cage for a lid-lifting goal just 7:13 in off a feed from Kathleen Culmo to the top of the circle through a group of Owl defenders. KSC limited the Gulls to just three shots over the remainder of the first half to keep it a 1-0 game, with Endicott goalkeeper Faith Minickene stopping
Lilah Carr and
Lucy Dickenson with less than three minutes to go in the second to keep the Owls off the board. KSC also had three consecutive offensive corners early in the period but came up shotless.
Nothing changed out of the locker room either, with the teams trading chances in the third. Kelly stopped Sabrina Brunet in the 35th minute and Lily Johnson in the 37th minute before Minickene saved a bid from
Henley Gilstrap in the 42nd minute. Keene State had a pair of corners in the 38th minute, but
Emma Bazin had one shot blocked and another go wide.
Kelly, as she has routinely done in recent games, came up big early in the fourth, making a trio of saves – two on Govoni – to keep it a 1-0 game as the clock ticked toward 10 minutes to go. KSC could not get much offense going until it was a must-have late, when Gilstrap bottled up Endicott's restart before Daileanes streaked up the middle for an impressive, sliding tally as she left Lexi Santoro in the dust and beat Minickene to the bottom right corner to make it 1-1 with just under three minutes to go.
KSC had chances after that to snatch a big victory. They had another offensive corner a little over a minute later, but Daileanes' ball toward the cage was cleared away. Daileanes was also a big factor in overtime but fired wide 2:43 into the extra session. She then earned a corner with 2:56 to go, nearly sweeping in a game-winning tally right in front of Minickene on the ensuing play after the Gulls' keeper kept out a shot by
Grace Seabury and a rebound effort by
Elyse Picard. Minickene had three saves in overtime.
Kelly also came up with three stops in the 7-on-7 and had command of her goal, stopping Govoni and Riley Perkins in succession in the first four minutes. KSC warded off four corners successfully before the Gulls cashed in on their final chance to win a thriller.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since the first round of the NCAA tournament a season ago, where it was a forgettable night for the Owls in a 9-0 loss to end their 2025 season. KSC was also blanked by the Gulls in the regular season in Keene and has dropped four straight in the series since winning eight of the first nine, but for Smith – in her first season at the helm of the program – tonight offers a key step in forming a baseline for the future.
"I am so proud of our hard work, teamwork, and courage we displayed in tonight's matchup," she said. "The team is equally proud of their performance. We knew this was going to be a battle and we went toe-to-toe with a top 20 opponent. We trusted the game plan and took pride in our principles. It is obviously not the result we wanted, but tonight set a standard for the rest of the season. Now we prepare for an in-state, LEC battle against Plymouth on Friday!"
Endicott, whose only losses are 2-0 to then-No. 3 Babson College and 3-1 to then-No. 4 Christopher Newport University, had a 26-15 edge in shots (13-7 on goal) and 12-8 in corners. The Gulls won their seventh straight. Their last three victories before tonight (at the University of Hartford, home against the University of Southern Maine, and at Western New England University) came by a combined score of 21-1.
The Owls have two games left on their four-game road swing, with Friday's matchup at PSU (1-8, 0-0 LEC) beginning at 5:00 p.m. KSC also visits the University of New England next week before hosting Western Connecticut State University next Friday.
