Keene State’s men’s lacrosse team fell short with an icy loss in their season opener 14-7 against Endicott College on Friday, Feb. 16, at the Owl Athletic Complex.
The game began with a gritty and tenacious feel to it as both teams scrambled amongst the turf, fighting for every ground ball opportunity.
Endicott kicked off the scoring with a goal nearly six minutes into the game. The Owls came firing back but could not get anything to get past Endicott’s goalie who proved to be a brick wall throughout the game.
Senior attackman Andrew Miller would start the Owls scoring with a tricky crease dive goal and then junior attackman Jeff Wiedenfeld scored 14 seconds later to go ahead 2-1 and end the first quarter.
Wiedenfeld buried another goal three minutes into the second to expand the Keene State lead. The Owls seemed to be gaining some momentum before a five-goal slip during the second quarter flipped the game upside down. A late goal in the second by Jack Ansart for the Owls, while being man-up, would bring the score to 6-4 as halftime arrived.
Both teams were freshened up as they battled at the start of the third quarter to grasp a hold of momentum.
Goals were traded early in the third as junior midfielder Giacomo Tedone answered to keep the Owls within two. A second goal for Miller late in the third would bring the game back to a two-score game. Keene State was unable to respond as Endicott went ahead and scored two more goals to bring the score to 10-6 as the fourth quarter approached.
Keene State’s sophomore attackman Jack Ansert put away a behind-the-back goal for his second early in the fourth following an Endicott goal in hopes of regaining some comeback at 11-7. These efforts were not enough as Endicott would score three more goals throughout the fourth to put away the Owls for good with a final of 14-7.
It was a valiant performance from both teams as the Owls came up short. The Keene State men’s lacrosse team will move onto their second game on the road against Western New England on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 4 p.m.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
Jacob.Enscoe@keene.edu
