Claire Boughton
Senior Sports Reporter
Rain pouring down and snow in the forecast certainly didn’t stop the Keene State Owls field hockey team tonight as they took on the Western Connecticut Colonials in the Little East Conference Championship Semifinals.
The Owls secured their spot in the semifinals when they beat Plymouth State on Tuesday night, final score 4-0. Western Connecticut also battled it out Tuesday night against Salem State, taking home a win with a final score of 3-2.
Within the first quarter of game play the Owls saw three penalty corners, one of which was scored off of and one which was called with one second remaining in the quarter. The Colonials also saw three penalty corners within the first quarter, scoring off one of them as well.
The first quarter also held the game’s first green card. Kelsey Roberts, Owls senior forward, was given a green card and forced to sit out for two minutes.
Roberts was Keene’s first goal scorer with an assist from Nina Bruno, junior forward. Ally McCall, senior defense, also scored a goal with an assist from Margaret Cahoon, first year midfielder. For Western Connecticut, the solo goal scorer in the first quarter was Morgan Matthews, senior forward, assisted by Lili Dickey, senior defense.
The score leading into the second quarter was Keene State 2, Western Connecticut 1.
The second quarter would see little to no action with only one penalty corner being called in favor of Keene State. During the penalty corner McCall would send a slap shot directly into the kneecap of Dickey, causing a pause in game play.
Dickey was assisted off the field and then game play continued.
No scoring would be seen again until the beginning of the third quarter.
Colonial senior forward, Carly Matasavage, would send one into the back of the net and make it a tied game.
Only a minute after the goal was made a yellow card would be given to Cahoon forcing her to sit out of gameplay for five minutes.
The rest of the third quarter was a battle for the ball with neither teams scoring until the last 50 seconds. Bruno would score the Owls third goal of the night, unassisted, giving the Owls the lead going into the fourth quarter.
Less than halfway through the fourth quarter their would be another Owls goal, this one being made by Clara Hunkins, first year forward.
The fourth quarter would see yet another card for the Owls. Junior Owls forward Kayla Klein would receive a green card with five minutes remaining in the game.
Western Connecticut decided to make their one-player advantage even bigger with Klein out and made the risky choice of pulling their goalie out of the game in exchange for another player.
That two-player advantage would not pay off in the end however, with the final score being 4-2 and the Keene State Owls securing their place in the finals. Finals will take place Saturday, November 9, against either No. 1 seed Worcester State, or No. 4 seed Southern Maine.
Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com
