MANSFIELD, Conn. — With both teams having already clinched a top-four seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament, the Keene State College women's lacrosse team traveled to take on Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon, with huge seeding implications. After the teams were tied at 4-4 early in the second quarter, the Owls outscored the Warriors, 10-2 the rest of the way, for the 14-6 win, which with tiebreaker scenarios, gave them the No. 2 seed in the upcoming LEC tournament.

Records

• Keene State: 11-5 (5-2 LEC)
• Eastern Connecticut State: 8-8 (5-2 LEC)

How it Happened


The Owls got on the board first in the contest, as Tess Brown caused a turnover on defense for KSC, which led to her scoring a pair of goals in a 20 second span, to give KSC a 2-0 lead with 12:07 remaining in the first quarter. Owls' goalkeeper, Mabelle Bessette made her first save in net a few minutes later, on a shot from Alexa Vizzini, but Vizzini was able to sneak a shot past her, 30 seconds after her last shot attempt, to pull ECSU within a goal with 9:36 remaining in the opening quarter. Both teams traded goals after Bessette made another save in net for KSC, as Mindy St. Marie scored her first goal of the game, followed by Vizzini's second of the game, this time on a free position shot, with 5:32 remaining in the quarter. Bessette made one more save to keep ECSU off the board in the first, as KSC tallied the final goal of the quarter, as Chase Gengras scored with 54 seconds remaining to help the Owls double up the Warriors, 4-2, heading into the second.
 
ECSU started with possession at the start of the second quarter thanks to a card on KSC at the end of the first quarter, and capitalized on it immediately, as Abby Parisi scored a free position goal, just 27 seconds into the quarter for the Warriors. 1:03 later, ECSU tied it up at four apiece as Vizzini scored another free position goal, for her third goal of the day. Through the remaining 13:30 of the first half, KSC went on to outscore ECSU, 5-0, as Bessette saved the only other two shots from the Warriors. Haile Ratajack helped contribute to the Owls fifth goal of the game, as she caused a turnover on defense for the Owls, which led to Brown scoring her third goal of the game, almost two minutes after Vizzini's third of the game. 2:54 later, the Owls scored their second consecutive goal, as Annaliese Rudberg assisted Lola Smith for a man-up goal, to put the Owls up a pair. Smith picked up another point as she assisted Ratajack for a goal, following Bessette's save on a free position attempt from ECSU. The final two goals from the Owls in the first half were also largely due to Smith, as on KSC's eighth goal, the roles were reversed from the previous goal, as Ratajack assisted Smith for the goal. Then on the final goal of the period, Smith assisted St. Marie for a man-up goal, which gave KSC a 9-4 lead heading into the second half.
 
Only three goals were scored in the third quarter, as each goalkeeper made a pair of saves in net over the 15 minutes of play in the quarter to limit their opposition. The first goal of the quarter didn't come until with 8:21 remaining, where Hannah Dworkin picked up her first assist of the game, on a man-down goal by Brown, for her fourth goal of the game. KSC scored their seventh consecutive goal with 5:39 remaining in the quarter, following Bessette's second save of the quarter, as Smith tallied her fifth point in the previous 17:03 of game time, on an assist to Rudberg's goal, to put KSC up 11-4. The final goal of the quarter came from Sydney Goyette for the Warriors, as she pulled them within six heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
Bessette opened the final quarter with a pair of huge saves in net for the Owls, with one of them being a free position save, to prevent the Warriors' comeback attempt. Just as they did in the first and third quarters, the Owls got on the board first in the final quarter, with Dworkin picking up career assist number 99 on a man-up goal to Ratajack. The Warriors' goalkeeper, Mackenzie Brown did all that she could to try to keep the Owls from scoring any more goals but following four consecutive saves in the crease on KSC shots, St. Marie was able to score for the Owls, to increase their lead to 13-5 with 6:12 remaining. 59 seconds later, Tess Brown scored her fifth goal of the day, as she fired a shot past Mackenzie Brown, to put KSC up 14-5. The final goal of the contest came from Katie Campbell for ECSU, as she scored with 4:02 remaining, as the Owls held on for the 14-6 win over the Warriors and secured the No. 2 seed in the LEC tournament.
 
"I am beyond proud of how this team finished the season," Travis Wyant, the head coach of the KSC women's lacrosse team said when asked his thoughts on how the team finished out their 2024 regular season. "We've faced a ton of adversity throughout the year and for us to be playing our best lacrosse in April is a real testament to our athletes and the culture they've built."
 
"Securing that No. 2 seed helps validate everything we've done here," Wyant said when asked how important earning the No. 2 seed is, as the Owls gained a bye to the LEC semifinals. "It helps us get some extra rest and prep time for what will be another huge game. We are going to use the advantage to the best of our abilities."
 
Inside the Crease

• With the win, the Owls improve to 17-19 in the all-time series between the two schools. KSC has won the eight most recent meetings between the two schools by a combined score of 147-68.
• Brown and Smith both finished tied for a game-high of five points apiece, as Brown scored a game-high of five goals, and Smith scored two goals and a game-high of three assists.
• Bessette locked down the Warriors, as she only allowed six goals, while making 10 saves, while Brown allowed 14 goals in net for the Warriors, while making nine saves.
• Ratajack recorded a pair of goals in the win and now sits at 66 goals on the 2024 season, which is the third most in a season for an Owl in program history. She is only two goals behind Michelle Mason (2002 season) to tie for the second most, and four away from tying with Mason (2005 season) for the most in a season (70 goals).
• KSC went 19-for-22 on clears, while ECSU struggled, going 13-for-21 on clear attempts.
• Coming into the contest, for the Owls to get the No. 2 seed, due to LEC tiebreaker scenarios, they had to beat the Warriors by more than six goals, and not allow more than 11, which they did, to secure the No. 2 seed.  

 
Up Next


Keene State will next play at home on Thursday, May 2, at 6:00 PM in the LEC semifinals, as they await the winner of the winner of the Eastern Connecticut State vs UMass-Dartmouth matchup in the LEC quarterfinals, which takes place at ECSU on Tuesday, April 30, at 5:00 PM.