Jill Diamond
Equinox Staff
Maya Baker’s first career hat trick led a second half Owl surge as it defeated Rhode Island College 6-2 in its opening game of the season.
On Thursday, April 8, Keene State’s women’s soccer team participated in their first Little East Conference (LEC) competition since November 5, 2019. KSC hosted Rhode Island College as their season opener, facing RIC on home turf for the first time since September 29, 2018. KSC began the game with senior Abigail Terrinca in net. Junior Marianna Panakis and senior Maggie Vogt started the game by holding down the fort on defense. Starting at midfield, sophomore Amanda Marshall, first-year Elizabeth Kopicko, senior Rachel Braun and senior Sarah Carron all worked strongly together. Lastly, starting on offense for KSC were duo first-year Maya Baker and first-year Rachel Souza.
Scoring the only goal in the first half was Baker, assisted by Souza approximately 28 minutes in. In the second half, RIC put themself on the board when Jayde Fernandes scored an unassisted goal only minutes in. Not long after, Baker saw another goal, unassisted, putting Keene State back in the lead of 2-1. Only three minutes later, Marshall scored yet another goal for Keene State, putting them up 3-1. Not two minutes after, Baker took off on a breakaway, scoring her third goal of the game. This goal would reward Baker with her first career hat trick.
It took RIC 78 minutes to score its second, Rhode Island College took their second goal of the game when Alexandra Amore placed it in the net after receiving a clean pass from her teammate Serena Forte, setting the score 4-2.
Solidifying KSC’s lead, Marshall saw two more goals within seven minutes of each other, both assisted by senior forward Ashley Bates. With both Baker and Marshall scoring hat tricks, Keene State College ended the game with a winning score of 6-2.
Remaining on their home field, KSC will next host the Spartans when they face Castleton University on Thursday, April 15 at 6 pm.
Jill Diamond can be contacted at:
jdiamond@kscequinox.com
