On Wednesday Oct. 25, 2017, Keene State College trumped Smith College’s field hockey team 3-0. First year goalie Rachel Loseby and junior captain Erica Stauffer both had impressive games leading the Owls in the win. Stauffer scored a hat-trick on Wednesday, putting two goals away in the first-half, and a third in the second half to secure the victory.
Jake Paquin / Equinox Staff
This marks the first time in the past three match ups between these teams that the game between the Owls and the Pioneers has not ended in a 2-1 score. The contests go back to 2013, with the Owls winning in 2014 and 2016, whereas the Pioneers won in 2015. The Owl’s hold the lead in the all-time contest between the two programs with the current margin being 11-2.
Around the 15-minute mark of the first-half, first-year player Kelsey Roberts, who finished the game with two assists, made a pass across the circle to Stauffer.
Stauffer then beat goalie Cameo Tiatje for her first goal of the night to put the Owls up by one. Three minutes later, the two linked up again with Robert’s passing across the circle in a similar fashion to Stauffer for her second goal, extending the Owls lead 2-0.
Loseby, who recorded 12 saves during the game, made a double save stopping Beatrice Chadouin with a difficult save, and then Jenna Tampon on the follow-up attempt before half-time to keep the Pioneers off the board. Loseby said her teammates help her stay focused, and play her best by keeping her in the moment. Three minutes before the end of the first-half Loseby made another save on Sammie Pavlov as the Owls led the Pioneers by two at half.
Impressive defense was the early story of the second-half, as Loseby made another superb double save stopping both Chadouin and Pavlov again. First-year player Taylor Robinson made two important defensive saves in the 48 and 51 minutes. Loseby credited Robinson with saving her shutout with these important defensive stops. She stopped shots from Bayleigh Bogan and Alex Larosee to keep the Pioneers scoreless.
Brittany Johnson made a pass to Stauffer in the 57 minute, which Stauffer efficiently put past the Pioneers goalie Tiatje to complete her hat-trick and give the Owls a 3-0 lead. This was Stauffer’s second career hat-trick, previously scoring one in 2016 against Bridgewater State.
The Pioneers threatened late in the game with two good chances. but Loseby maintained her shutout, finishing out the game by denying the attempts from Neva Richardson and Pavlov. This was Loseby’s third game with at least 12 saves. Loseby said she thinks that for “being a young team, we’ve been connecting well,” and that you can see it the way the team plays.
The Pioneers held the advantage in shots with a 23-15 ratio. They also had an 11-1 lead in corners taken.
The Pioneers will finish their regular season on Saturday, Oct. 28, facing off against Clark University on the road.
KSC finishes their regular season with an 11-8 record, the Pioneers finish their season at 8-9. Heading into the Little East Conference tournament the Owl’s will be the number two seeded team. The Owls will host number seven seeded Bridgewater State in a quarterfinal game on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Simon Burch can be contacted at sburch@kscequinox.com
