FITCHBURG, Mass. –
Meghan Daileanes and
Henley Gilstrap each finished with a goal and an assist to lead five different goal scorers as the Keene State College field hockey team kept the good early-season feeling going, pounding Fitchburg State University 5-1 in non-conference action at Elliot Field on Tuesday night.
For a while, the scoreboard and the stats told two different stories, with the game remaining scoreless until there were 12 seconds left in the first half. However, the shot count? 17-1 for KSC at that time, who broke the scoring ice on their 18th shot of the half when Bazin rifled one in from just inside the top of the circle to put the Owls up 1-0.
That opened the flood gates for KSC, as despite Isabella Corcoran making 12 saves for Fitchburg – 11 of which came in the second half – the Owls put the game away quickly out of the halftime locker room, scoring just 1:58 into the third quarter when Daileanes whacked home a rebound to make it 2-0.
Elyse Picard tacked on another late in the period off a corner, swatting home a ball that trickled right in front after Bazin's attempted tip-in for a 3-0 KSC advantage in the 43rd minute.
Fitchburg (1-2) made it 3-1 early in the fourth when Kendall O'Brien's worm-burner of a shot from the top of the circle off a Falcons corner insert found its away up
Tori Kelly's pad and into the back of the cage, but that was one of only three shots for the home team on the night.
KSC answered quickly, as
Grace Seabury created a turnover near the middle of the field and engineered a solo effort, sizzling a high-velocity, low shot into the right side of the cage to make it 4-1 with 10:23 left. Gilstrap tacked on her fifth goal in three games to start her collegiate career 3:59 later to set the final margin.
The Owls were in complete command throughout, outshooting the Falcons 32-3 including 22-3 on goal. They also had a 16-1 advantage in corners, improving to 2-0 on the road. KSC took their season-opener at Rivier University last Tuesday behind seven different goal scorers, and tonight added another contest where they had five different scorers as they beat Fitchburg for the third straight time in an all-time series they lead 27-3.
Kelly stopped two of three shots in the KSC net to pick up the win, while Corcoran's 12 saves came in three quarters of work. Hannah Free stopped four in 15 minutes.
"I'm proud of the team for staying poised and composed while we battled it out at 0-0 for the first two quarters," said Owls head coach
Leslie Smith. "We are playing a fun game of hockey, and the team is doing a great job of making the necessary adjustments mid-game to earn the win. Now we quickly reset and prepare for our Thursday home game!"
KSC will take on Westfield State University (3-0) on that night beginning at 6:00 p.m. before traveling to face Colby-Sawyer College () on Saturday afternoon. Defending MASCAC champion Westfield has downed Clark University 4-1 on the road, the University of Maine-Farmington 5-1 at Smith College, and then the host Bears 3-1 in their season-opening winning streak. The (Massachusetts) Owls went 18-4 a season ago, though lost to KSC 7-1 at home, and made the NCAA tournament before falling to then-No. 9 Middlebury College 6-0 on the road in the first round.
