The Keene State Men’s Lacrosse team lost its final regular season game at home against the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) in a close 10-8 game on Friday, April 25. The game did not affect the Owls’ playoff opportunities.
Before the game began, Keene State celebrated its senior day and recognized ten seniors for their commitment and effort given to the KSC Men’s Lacrosse program. Seniors Justin Miller, Rex Maccarini, Connor Brown, Jakob Curtiss, Jack Theriault, Connor Woods, Hunter Tavares, Giacomo Tedone, Tim Kelleher and Dylan Florian were celebrated.
The home team’s celebration did not carry much momentum for the Owls at the beginning of the contest. 90 seconds into the first quarter, UMass Boston tallied its first goal of the game, giving the team an early lead. The Beacons regained possession and fired a shot wide, allowing the Owls to move the ball upfield.
Junior attacker Jack Ansart had a shot attempt of his own that was stopped by the Beacons’ goalie. Maccarini scooped up the rebound and tallied on another shot that found the back of the net, tying the game early on.
The game remained tied 1-1 with possession switching back and forth until around the halfway mark of the first. The Owls took advantage of a long possession by scoring their second goal of the game, this one by Tedone. Less than a minute later, UMass Boston used its face-off win to set up shop in KSC’s territory and score a goal, bringing the game to a 2-2 tie.
Both goalies were stagnant, refusing to let anything other than a perfect shot find the net. The teams traded shots with corresponding saves until the Beacons connected again for their third goal of the day. The back-and-forth theme continued as Ansart answered with 54 seconds left, and the first quarter would end at 3-3.
After a fiery first quarter, both defenses stepped up their play immensely. Neither team maintained possession for long, and any shot taken was either wide or stopped by the goaltender.
Following a timeout at the 5:30 mark, junior midfielder Tim Souza buried a goal to give the Owls their second lead of the day. KSC had multiple scoring opportunities following the goal but came up empty-handed.
The Owls had the momentum heading into the half before the Beacons scored a tying goal in the final minute of the second quarter. The senior day game sat at 4-4 heading into halftime.
Right out of halftime, the Beacons won the faceoff and headed straight down the field to score their fifth goal 21 seconds into the third quarter. The early second half lead had the Owls on their heels, unable to set anything up in the offensive zone. The Beacons, on the other hand, controlled the ball on the other end, forcing Florian to make six saves in 10 minutes.
The constant pressure led to a UMass Boston goal, which extended the team’s lead to two. The game had seemed to slip away from the home team before sophomore midfielder Jake Dubiel brought it back to within one goal.
The ensuing faceoff was won by the Beacons, and within eight seconds of possession time, UMass Boston responded to the KSC goal with one of its own and extended the lead once again.
What seemed like a two-goal game heading into the fourth was brought back to one with 40 seconds remaining in the third as Ansart scored his second of the day.
With the score at 7-6, the Owls headed into the fourth just one behind the road team. The tying goal began to seem farther and farther away as the Beacons reapplied the pressure they had in the third quarter. Florian provided a save around the 11-minute mark that was picked up and quickly fired on net, this one slipping by the Owls’ goalie.
The two-goal lead gave UMass Boston some momentum, and just over a minute later they quickly tagged on another goal to put them three ahead. The tying goal had turned into a three-goal slide, and KSC’s senior day was on the brink of being spoiled.
The Owls’ chances of completing the comeback slipped further out of reach after the Beacons tacked on their third goal of the fourth and brought the score to 10-6. A few saves by Florian following the tenth goal kept KSC’s chances alive, and around the two-minute mark Tedone scored another goal, which brought the deficit to three.
A penalty by KSC with less than two minutes to go proved to be a costly mistake and worsened the Owls’ already slim chance of winning. The late surge from the home team continued as Ansart completed his hat trick and brought the game to within two. Keene State’s comeback was too little, too late, and the contest ended 10-8 in favor of the Beacons.
KSC’s Men’s Lacrosse team remains in playoff contention and will face off against the best of the Little East Conference in hopes of snatching a conference title.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
