Keene State Men’s Lacrosse faced off against rival Plymouth State University (PSU) on Friday, April 18. The Owls are in fifth place in the Little East Conference (LEC) and battled against the third-ranked Panthers in a close game that kept fans on the edge of their seats.
After an opening goal from PSU in the first three minutes, sophomore midfielder Jake Dubiel leveled the game with nine minutes left in the first quarter. PSU responded to Dubiel’s goal with five unanswered goals in five minutes. Crosby Fay led the Panthers’ offense at this time, scoring three of the five. The first quarter ended 6-1.
Panther Aidan Renner sent PSU ahead by another goal less than a minute into the second quarter. Senior Dylan Florian began to come alive following the opening goal. Florian made five straight saves before another goal from PSU. Fay scored another goal quickly after. Dubiel found another goal for the Owls before the break. The Panthers led 9-2 at halftime.
A goalie change was made for Keene State as the third quarter started. Sophomore Cameron Smith saved the first shot he saw but the Panthers proceeded to bag two more goals past Smith shortly after. Following these goals, the Owls created some momentum for themselves. Senior attacker Rex Maccarini led the team in goals and began to put himself on the box score. Maccarini contributed three unanswered goals with an assist and two scores to put the Owls behind six. With 15 minutes to play, the game was stuck at 11-5.
Junior midfielder Jaheim Lancaster found the Owls’ sixth goal of the game with his sixth goal of the season. With seven minutes to play, KSC trailed by five goals. Sophomore midfielder Nicholas McNulty and senior midfielder Ben Tukey continued to keep the rally going, each scoring a goal in the last 6:45. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough, and the Owls were stuck behind three goals when the final whistle blew.
The game finished 11-8 with PSU taking the win. Keene State now stands at .500 in all competitions and at 4-2 in the LEC. Keene will play their final game of the regular season at home on Friday, April 25 for Senior Day.
Carson Flake can be contacted at
cflake@kscequinox.com
