Keene State’s Field Hockey team won their most recent game against the Thomas College Terriers 4-3 on Saturday, Sept. 27. Keene entered this game with a 6-2 record on the season, winning their previous two games against UMass Dartmouth and Smith College.
The first period did not start off ideally for the Owls. The Terriers managed to make a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes and Keene was down by 2. That didn’t last long. With around one minute left in the first, first-year midfielder/forward Henley Gilstrap found her 11th goal of the season from sophomore midfielder Emma Bazin and got Keene on the scoreboard heading into the second.
The first part of the second period stayed relatively quiet as both teams traded a few shots at each other. With five minutes left to go in the half, the Terriers found their mark once again and they put up another score, making the game 1-3. However, the Owls quickly rallied. Not even a minute after Thomas’ goal, senior midfielder Elyse Picard, with an assist from junior defender Kayln Arnold, made a shot that hit its mark and brought Keene back to almost even footing at 2-3. While no other scores happened in the remaining time, this was a good boost for the Owls to carry this momentum with them after halftime ended.
Like clockwork, the Owls came out of halftime and got right to work. A couple minutes into the third period, senior forward Meghan Daileanes made a goal on the Terriers to tie the game up 3-3. Thomas tried to take the lead back again throughout the rest of the period, making four shot attempts after Daileanes’ goal, but the Owls defense clamped down and didn’t allow any further scores from the home team.
Almost mirroring the start of the third, the Owls, within three minutes of the last period’s start, scored again to fully take the lead. This goal was made by Bazin, with an assist from Picard to make it 4-3 in favor of Keene State. Thomas once again tried, in vain, to tie the game. They had a chance with around six minutes left in the game from a corner shot they were given, though first-year goalkeeper Tori Kelly made the save, her fifth of the day, and helped cement the win for Keene State, the game ending with a final score of 4-3.
With the win here, Keene State moves to a 7-2 record on the season. Their next game is on the road against Endicott College, which they play on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
neliopoulos@kscequinox.com
