Keene State’s Men’s Lacrosse team lost 17-6 in the Little East Conference (LEC) Championship quarterfinal match against the rival Plymouth State University (PSU) on Tuesday, April 28. Coming into the match, Keene State was the No. 4 seed hosting the game while PSU had the No. 5 seed.
Senior goalkeeper Andrew Wiegand started off the game with a save to prevent the Panthers from jumping out early. That didn’t last long, as PSU scored two goals three minutes into the match, just 58 seconds apart from each other. Minutes later, they tacked on another two goals to make it 0-4, scoring 42 seconds apart this time. Senior attacker Jack Ansart came to the rescue to prevent a shutout, scoring his 35th goal of the season to put the Owls on the board. The Panthers added on another goal with four minutes to go to end the first quarter with a score of 1-5.
Just like quarter one, the Owls were outscored 5-1 by Plymouth State. PSU scored the first goal barely a minute into the quarter, then added three more to make the score 1-9. Senior midfielder Cole Ricardi scored his 14th goal of the season, and Keene State’s second in the game following penalties. With just about four minutes remaining in the half, the Panthers added another goal, their 10th, to make the score 2-10 at halftime.
PSU scored the first goal of the second half, though this time the Owls responded. This came in the form of Ansart, assisted by junior midfielder Nicholas McNulty, who scored his 36th goal of the season and second of the game to somewhat keep the Owls in it. Not long after, however, the Panthers scored two goals less than a minute apart to make it a 10-point game. The Owls reacted, though. Ricardi scored his second goal of the game while junior attacker Nick Sullivan assisted senior attacker Dylan Seymour in scoring his 26th goal on the season to make it 5-13. PSU put up another goal, though after a turnover by Seymour, fifth-year midfielder Ben Tukey assisted Ansart in scoring his third goal of the game to make it 6-14 at the end of the half.
Despite the momentum coming back for the Owls, they were not able to score a single goal in the entire fourth quarter. The Panthers added three more goals during the last 15 minutes to ice the game for good, ending in a 6-17 victory for PSU. Even with the loss, there are some highlights from this game and the season as a whole. Ansart finished with team-highs for goals and points, having three this game. Senior defender Dylan Fadale recorded a game-high four caused turnovers, ending his time at KSC with 80 in total, the third most in program history. Junior defender Ty Cougler finished this season with 59 caused turnovers, the most in a season by an Owl, breaking his previous record of 47 last season.
With the loss, the Owls fell 26-8 in their series against the Panthers. The Owls end the season with a 9-7 record, their first time above .500 since a similar 9-7 season in 2023. Plymouth State now advances to the LEC semifinals against the No. 1 seed Western Connecticut State University on Thursday, April 30.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
neliopoulos@kscequinox.com
