Sami Smith continued to stay hot and approached a record, proving to be the difference in Keene State’s 4-0 victory over Fitchburg State in their Little East Conference (LEC) opener.
The Owls’ offense ran into one of the best goalies in the LEC Brittany Linane, who has not allowed a goal this season and was coming off a shutout performance against Plymouth State. Smith scored just eight minutes into the game off of an assist from Brittney Cardente, but Fitchburgs’ Linane settled down after that and was a brick wall for the remainder of the half. Keene State went into halftime clinging onto that 1-0 lead, knowing that they had to find a way to get the ball past Linane.
The offense for the Owls came alive in the second half. Smith got it started just over four minutes into the half with her second goal of the game. About eight minutes later, Erica Stauffer came through to extend the Keene State lead to 3-0. The final goal of the game was by Smith. She found the back of the net for her tenth goal in just five games so far this season, putting her average at two goals per game.
Luke stergiou/ Senior Photographer
Smith also inched closer to the all time points record in a career at Keene State. She now has 151 total points, one shy of Kay Mulcahy’s record that has been standing since 1985. With the three goals, Smith also put herself into a tie for second most goals of all time with 64. She is just six away from tying the all-time career record that is also set by Mulcahy.
With the win, the Owls improve to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in LEC play. They will be back in action on Wednesday September 14th, at home for a non-conference game against Amherst College at 6:30 p.m.
Smith needs one assist to tie the point record and one goal to break the record.
Mike Miezejeski can be contacted at mmiezejeski@kscequinox.com
