Keene State’s field hockey managed to take the win over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth) 4-2 on Friday, Sept. 21.
The Owls were coming off a loss to Western New England University the previous Wednesday, with a record of 6-1. UMass Dartmouth was coming off a loss to Salve Regina University, with a record of 1-6. Both teams were looking to bounce back after a loss.
The first half of the game started quietly in the first quarter; a couple of corner shots came from Keene State, none with any gain, but the Owls continued to put pressure on the Corsairs. Ultimately, the Corsairs would be the first to score, eight minutes into the game. Sophia Bouffard found Carly Wang for an early goal.
Avoiding a repeat of the previous game, senior forward Grace Bazin scored KSC’s first goal of the game, with just about two minutes left in the first quarter. The second quarter saw more dominant offense by the Owls, making various shots (16 in total during the first half) for the first five minutes of the quarter.
The pressure paid off, with Bazin scoring KSC’s second goal of the game with just a little over ten minutes left to go in the half. From there, the pressure did not let up at all, with more shots made, though without success. With three minutes to go in the half, junior forward Meghan Daileanes scored the third goal for the Owls in the game, making it 3-1. The first half ended without any further action.
The second half of the game started off back and forth between the two teams until about five minutes in. Junior midfielder Grace Seabury, with an assist from Bazin, scored the fourth goal of the game for Keene, making it 4-1 with ten minutes left in the quarter. Two minutes later, the Corsairs scored their second goal of the game, made by Kelly Bates, with an assist by Lillian Bento, making it 4-2. While UMass seemed to be ready to come back from the deficit, the Corsairs did not manage to get anything going after their goal, the third quarter ending without further goals.
The fourth quarter saw a complete shutdown of offense by UMass, making zero shots during this time period, where the Owls had five total, their lowest of the four quarters. Keene State had two corner opportunities during the fourth but was unable to capitalize, the Corsairs managing to have four saves and prevent the Owls from scoring any further. The game ended without any further goals being scored.
Keene State now stands at 7-1, while UMass goes to 1-7. The Owls will keep traveling on the road for a game against Smith College on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
