On Saturday, Keene State’s Men’s Lacrosse team pulled off a close 9-8 win over Plymouth State University (PSU), the first since 2022, on their senior day. KSC was coming into the game off a loss to Western Connecticut the previous week.
The goalies of each team shone during the first quarter. For the Owls, senior goalkeeper Andrew Wiegand made three saves, while PSU’s graduate goalie Ethan Schena made six saves to keep it scoreless. Junior midfielder Jake Dubiel put the Owls on the scoreboard first towards the end of the first. The Panthers responded in kind and tied the game going into the second.
Schena once again made saves in the opening stages, but junior defender Ty Cougler wouldn’t be denied. Cougler already caused turnovers early into the second, and made another one to hit a goal that put the Owls ahead once again. Barely a minute later, senior attacker Dylan Seymour assisted fellow senior attacker Jack Ansart in getting his first goal of the game. With just about two minutes left in the half, Ansart scored again to make the game 4-1. Before the half ended, Cougler added another turnover to his resume and immediately fired a shot into the back of PSU’s net to make the score 5-1 heading into the second half.
Down but not out, PSU scored within the first two minutes of the third quarter opening. In response, senior defender Aidan Donohue caused a turnover on PSU’s next possession, which led to Dubiel getting his second goal of the day. Despite Wiegand making three saves for the Owls, PSU sent four shots past him to tie the game at 6-6. The response for this came in the form of Seymour once again assisting a fellow senior, midfielder Tim Souza, for a lead-taking goal. Senior midfielder Sebastian Foresi quickly assisted Seymour in getting a goal with just barely 36 seconds left on the clock, making it 8-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
PSU opened up the scoring to make it a one-score game not even a minute in. Two minutes later, Seymour fired his second goal into the other team’s net to maintain the lead. The Panthers had a miracle happen with just 54 seconds left in the game when they made it a one-score game through an Owl turnover. Down to the wire now, PSU won the resulting face-off and had a clear shot on the goal. Wiegand made one of the game-saving plays here, making a save to deny the game-tying goal with just 28 seconds to go. With KSC having another turnover, this became PSU’s last chance to tie it. Senior defender Dylan Fadale wouldn’t allow it, making his second turnover of the day to seal the game for the Owls.
The Owls head on the road next week on Wednesday, April 15, for a game against Vermont State Castleton University at 7 p.m.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
