With spring right around the corner, the sounds of cracking sticks, blowing whistles and cheering fans await at the Owl Athletic Complex as both the Keene State Women’s and Men’s Lacrosse teams gear up for their spring season.
The women’s lacrosse team is coming off a very strong 2024 season, finishing 12-6 and reaching the Little East Conference (LEC) Championship, where they fell to fierce rivals Plymouth State. With three key players—Haile Ratajack, Mindy St. Marie and Elle Lyons—graduating last spring, the Owls are embarking on a fresh start.
Head Coach Travis Wyant, now entering his third season, said he is eager to rebuild the team with a new leadership group. One of those players is senior attacker Lola Smith, who said she is looking forward to stepping into her new role as co-captain.
“I just want to be a good leader on and off the field, really. I’ve just been trying to be a good leader and someone that they can go to if they need help with really anything. If it’s sports, if it’s mental health, I don’t know. I just want to be a person that they can look up towards,” said Smith.
With the new leadership group in place, Wyant said some of the first-year players on the roster are poised to make a big impact for the team.
“A couple of freshmen are definitely going to have a pretty significant role to play,” said Wyant. “These new players have jumped in and been making their presence felt.”
Part of the culture shift has been adopting a new mentality, Wyant said. A preseason poll put out by the LEC has the Owls in fourth to begin the season, but Wyant said he is confident that his team is ready to defy expectations.
“I think we always have this underdog mentality,” said Wyant. “I’m expecting wins, and I’m expecting that championship.”
The Owls’ women’s lacrosse team will be hoping it can put the pieces all together and make a run for a conference championship, a feat it has not accomplished since the 2016 season. However, doing that will likely mean facing off against rivals Plymouth State yet again, but for Smith and her squad it’s a challenge they are ready to face.
“We’re out for blood this year. I’m not even kidding,” said Smith. “We’ve been saying it all season—we’re beating them. I hope that we can pull it together this year and actually come out with a win.”
As the women’s lacrosse team sets their sights on reclaiming the LEC championship, the men’s lacrosse team is equally determined to make their mark in the upcoming season. After an up-and-down 2024 campaign that saw them finish 7-9, including a tough semifinal loss to Western Connecticut State University, the Owls are entering the 2025 season with renewed hope.
Head Coach Mark Theriault, now in his 25th season with the Owls, said he is confident that his team has the potential to compete for the title.
“This is a team that I wouldn’t say has amazing all-Americans all over the place, but I think it’s a team that, if we can get everyone working together, then we’re definitely competitive in regards to anyone in the LEC,” said Theriault.
A key player in the Owls’ quest for success will be senior captain Rex Maccarini. Maccarini discussed the team’s shift in culture, highlighting its commitment to hard work and the determination to improve.
“For my freshman year, we were just naturally good. And then we kind of just got lazy, because we were good, and then we started losing. We need to start going, and we’ve been working very hard,” said Maccarini.
Looking at the roster for the upcoming season, there are plenty of players aiming to make a significant impact. For Maccarini, one standout player he believes will be crucial to the team’s success is sophomore long-stick midfielder Ty Cougler. Cougler, who started all 16 games as a first-year, notched one goal and is determined to build on his impressive rookie season.
“I’ve never seen a kid have such a high drive as him [Cougler]. And he was a freshman. He’s just good at what he does, and he has such a high drive for everything. He wakes up, runs at six in the morning, works out at 12 o’clock at night, and same thing with his roommate Jack Ricci,” said Maccarini.
The 2025 season for both men’s and women’s lacrosse at Keene State looks set to be an exciting one. With new faces, new cultures and an ever-present determination to win, these Owls are ready. The men’s season is already underway, while the women’s team will be at home on February 25 to take on the Raiders of Rivier University.
Elías Stowell Alemán can be contacted at
estowellaleman@kscequinox.com
