Keene State’s Men’s Lacrosse trounced over conference foe Eastern Connecticut in a ten-point victory on Saturday, March 22. This is the team’s third win of the new season.
After starting the season out 0-3, the men’s lacrosse team at Keene State has won three of its last four games to bring them close to .500. The Owls picked up that third win at home over a familiar Little East Conference opponent also around 50% this season.
The first faceoff of the day was won by junior Gabe Pereira but quickly ended up in a Warriors stick. A failed clear by the away team led to a KSC possession in scoring position. Senior midfielder Giacomo Tedone capitalized on the opportunity, netting the senior’s first goal of the season. This goal occurred in the first minute of the game giving the Owls an early lead.
Throughout the next nine minutes of the game, the Owls’ defense remained strong, only allowing the Warriors to maintain possession for small periods due to many forced turnovers. A high shot with five and a half to go resulted in Keene State taking the ball in from behind the net, where sophomore midfielder Jake Dubiel scored to put the Owls up 2-0.
Pereira won the ensuing faceoff and within a flash the junior zipped the ball to senior attackman Rex Maccarini to score the Owls’ third goal.
Pereira won the next faceoff and, after about 40 seconds of possession, Keene State found the back of the net again, this time by senior attackman Connor Woods.
The Warriors fell behind and trailed by four before they eventually responded and had the final goal of the quarter with Keene State leading 4-1.
Eastern Connecticut started the second quarter much different than the first, scoring two goals within the first three minutes of the quarter. The Owls could only respond with missed shots until the 9:20 mark of the second where Maccarini netted his second on the day.
Later in the quarter, Keene State survived a man-down situation, and Maccarini scored once again to complete the early hat-trick and put Keene State up 6-3.
With five minutes to go in the half, Keene State went man-up for 30 seconds but was unsuccessful in that time. However, the momentum and possession gained from it resulted in another goal for the Owls, the fourth scored by Maccarini. This final goal carried the 7-3 KSC lead into halftime.
Unlike the prior two quarters, the second half did not see much scoring within the first five minutes other than a Warriors goal near the ten-minute mark. The goal would go unanswered for about three minutes until Dubiel scored for the sophomore’s second of the game.
A turnover and a save by senior goalie Dylan Florian was enough to fend off the Warriors until they would score with a minute to go. This would make it a more manageable game for Eastern Connecticut at 8-5 in favor of the Owls. The three-score game did not last long as Dubiel scored with 30 seconds left to play in the quarter, extending the lead back to four.
Pereira’s domination on the faceoff X continued into the fourth quarter, and a win to start the quarter gave the Owls possession in a game they controlled. That possession set junior midfielder Cole Ricardi up for his eighth goal of the season.
The five-goal lead lasted for about 90 seconds before the Owls tacked another goal on and made it 11-5. This goal in the fourth was scored by junior attackman Jack Ansart. A minute later KSC’s junior long-stick midfielder Aidan Donohue would put one home, adding to the Owl onslaught.
A Warrior response finally came to draw the game to 12-6, but the feisty bunch of Owls responded with two of their own in a ten-second span. The first was by sophomore midfielder Nicholas McNulty, and the second by Maccarini for his fifth goal of the day.
Following the quick goal burst, KSC scored three more goals in a game that was already decided. The final score for this LEC matchup was 17-7 in favor of the Owls.
The next game for the Keene State Men’s Lacrosse team will be played on Saturday, March 29. It will take place at the Owl Athletic Complex where Massachusetts Maritime will travel to take on the Owls.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
