After a tough loss for the KSC Women’s Lacrosse team, the team mustered a close home win against Western New England University (WNE) on Saturday, March 8 by a margin of 11-9.
The second home game for the Owls began the exact same as the first, with the visitors getting on the scoreboard quite fast. Within the first 90 seconds of the game, WNE was up 1-0 and put the Owls on the chase.
Less than 30 seconds after the first goal, junior midfielder Tess Brown found the back of the net for her tenth season goal to tie the game. About two minutes later, the Owls found their go-ahead goal scored by senior attack Chase Gengras.
The next few minutes of the first quarter remained scoreless with Keene State pressing up on the Golden Bears and making it difficult to clear the ball. A clear by the visitors resulted in a shot on goal and a save by junior goaltender Mabelle Bessette. The Owls collected that save and move the ball down the field to set up first-year Lola Varricchione for a shot and goal to push the Owls ahead 3-1.
About 90 seconds later at the 4:33 mark of the first, Varricchione put away another goal for her second on the day. Shortly after, the four-goal stretch for KSC ended with two WNE goals to end the first quarter 4-3 with the Owls ahead.
The second quarter began with both teams possessing and eventually turning over the ball, which led to KSC gaining possession and moving upfield. A shot by Brown went wide, but the Owls maintained the ball. Another opportunity by Brown resulted in success, recording her second goal on the day and expanding the Owls’ lead.
In a quarter where Keene State was outshot, they still managed to put away three goals in a row and create distance from the Golden Bears. Senior Captain Lola Smith scored at the 5:16 mark, and right after the ensuing draw, Gengras scored her second goal at 5:04.
The score toward the end of the first half was 7-3 after the KSC barrage, but just as before, WNE fired back and scored two goals in a row to bring the game closer.
In the final minute of the second quarter, Brown completed the hat trick with her third goal. The Golden Bears responded quickly with their own goal and go into halftime trailing with a score of 8-6.
As halftime came to a close, the Owls opened up the third quarter with an urgency to keep the Golden Bears away from their lead. About two and a half minutes in, junior Riley Devine found the back of the net, her second on the season. A minute after Devine’s goal, Gengras put away another goal and secured her hat trick for the day.
A 10-6 score lasted for a while in the third quarter with the help of Bessette in the net. The score changed in the last six minutes of the quarter, but it was an extension of the Owls lead with a fourth goal by Brown to make the score 11-6.
The lead created by Keene State remained until the fourth quarter, where WNE scored a few goals to bring the game closer. These efforts were not enough to defeat the home squad as the Owls went on to win 11-9. Although they could not increase their total in the fourth, their defense and goaltending in the final quarter were successful enough to earn the win.
The KSC Women’s Lacrosse team will be on the road in their next game, facing off against the University of Hartford on Wednesday, March 12.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
