Austin Smith
Sport editor
Oftentimes transfer students can have a difficult time adjusting to their new team. For Joe Nutting, this has been no issue.
Nutting, a sophomore attackman, is currently the leading scorer for Keene State’s lacrosse team. He has 31 goals for the season to go along with 13 assists, giving him 44 points. In the Owls’ blowout victory over Western Connecticut, he had six goals and one assist. Nutting got his six goals in only seven shots, giving him a shooting percentage of 85.
Nutting is a transfer student from the Division I program at UMass Lowell. In addition to being on the lacrosse team, Nutting also plays for KSC’s club hockey team. This was one reason why Nutting transferred here. “Honestly, I missed hockey and I wanted a school that I could play both at,” Nutting said. Nutting is originally from Amherst, New Hampshire, where he played lacrosse at Souhegan High School as a four-year varsity starter.
In high school, Nutting was first all-state for both his junior and senior years. He led New Hampshire in scoring with 101 points his junioar year. He also played for the N.H. Junior Monarchs, where he won the AAA U18 championship as a junior, and was also a four year varsity starter in hockey.
With Nutting being only a sophomore, he still has two more years of eligibility after this season. Senior midfielder JJ Downey said, “I think he can be an All-American, he’s only a sophomore.” Nutting only played in three games in his lone season at UMass Lowell and was not able to score, getting only two shots. In his first season as an Owl, he has had a team high 67 shots, good for a 46.3 shot percentage.
Nutting’s knack for scoring has helped this team to another LEC tournament berth, and given them another season of going undefeated in conference games. Coach Mark Theriault said, “Most recently, Joe’s been really putting the ball in the net, last game he had six goals.”
Having a Division I transfer come to a Division III school can be a big help to the team. Division I is usually more competitive, garnering the top athletes in the country. Downey said, “We were definitely excited when we found out Joe was coming in, not only a lacrosse player, but a hockey player too.”
UMass Lowell is much bigger school than Keene State. UMass Lowell’s enrollment is at about 18,000 students, and Keene State is at about 3,600. Nutting said, “It’s much smaller here, but I know more people, I have more closer friends. At Lowell I was isolated to just hanging out with lacrosse team.”
This will be the Owls’ seventh straight LEC tournament appearance.
“I think the team expects that we win the LEC championship this year. I think a big goal we have for this year is to move past the first round of the LEC tournament,” said Nutting.
The next game that Nutting and the Owls will play in will be the LEC semi-final game. That game is against an opponent that is to be determined at the Keene Owls athletic complex on Friday, May 3.
Austin Smith can be contacted
at asmith@kscequinox.com
