DARTMOUTH, MA (MyKeeneNow) In a back-and-forth contest on Wednesday night for the Keene State College women’s lacrosse team, the Owls’ four fourth quarter goals proved to be the difference as they took down the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Corsairs 11-8 to move to 4-2 in Little East Conference play.
Records
  • Keene State: 10-4 (4-2 LEC)
  • UMass-Dartmouth: 9-5 (3-2 LEC)

How it Happened

UMD came out of the gates hot as they jumped to a 2-0 lead after a pair of goals in the opening 2:21 of the contest with Maddy Allen and Claire Altshuler each scoring a goal for the Corsairs. Just over a minute later after Lola Varricchione won the ensuing draw control, she scored a free position goal to cut the lead in half from her 26th goal of the season. The rest of the quarter, the Corsairs’ goalkeeper, Keira Bushey, made three more saves, including on a free position attempt from KSC and did not allow a goal the rest of the first. Allen scored one more goal later in the quarter to give the Corsairs a 3-1 lead heading into the second quarter of action.
Allen picked yet another point to open the second quarter as Jenny Lipanovich’s 54th goal of the season for the Corsairs, 36 seconds into the quarter, gave UMD a 4-1 lead. Over the next 6:06, KSC tallied three goals to draw even with UMD as Hayden Smith picked up an assist on Chase Gengras’ goal for Smith’s first of four assists on the day. Following a caused turnover from Brianna Hodgman, Gengras scored the second of the three consecutive goals, coming from Tess Brown for a man-up goal, while Varricchione added the third on another free position goal to draw even for KSC. Both teams traded a goal shortly after as UMD took the lead on a man-up goal from Lipanovich, Smith added another assist, this time to Anna Maccarini to tie the game up at five with a few minutes remaining in the first half. Unfortunately for the Owls, Lipanovich tallied another goal before the end of the half and Bushey made her second save of the quarter to give the Corsairs momentum and a 6-5 lead heading into halftime.
Fortunately for KSC, the Owls killed any momentum the Corsairs had built at the end of the first half as Gengras scored a man-down free position goal to open the scoring in the third quarter to tie the game up at six. Bushey saved the next three shots on target from the Owls and the Corsairs were able to retake the lead with 8:44 remaining in the quarter with another goal from Lipanovich. UMD’s lead did not last long though, as KSC answered back 2:33 later as Gengras assisted Riley Devine for her first goal of the game to tie it up at seven apiece. With 1:06 remaining in the third, UMD retook the lead heading into the final quarter as Kyra Lyons got on the board for the Corsairs to give UMD an 8-7 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Bushey opened the quarter with a save for UMD to try to preserve the Corsairs’ lead, but the Owls eventually drew even as the Smith sisters connected for a goal as Hayden Smith assisted Lola Smith for the goal to tie the game at eight apiece with 9:49 remaining in regulation. After the Owls’ goalkeeper, Katelyn Nicotera, made her third save of the game shortly after, KSC took the lead as Hayden Smith added another assist on Varricchione’s third goal of the game for the Owls. With 6:03 remaining in the contest, KSC added their third goal in a row as Varricchione assisted Devine’s second goal of the day for a man-up goal as KSC increased their lead to two. The Owls took advantage of another yellow card 1:21 later as just nine seconds into the card Gengras assisted Brown for a man-up goal for the fourth goal in a row as the Owls continued their momentum to a 11-8 lead. The rest of the 4:42 of the contest neither team scored again as each goalie made another save and the Owls came away with the 11-8 win on the night over the Corsairs.
Inside the Crease
  • With the win, KSC improves to 24-5 over the Corsairs in the all-time series. KSC has won the 23 most recent matchups and held UMD to below nine goals in all but four of the 23 consecutive wins.
  • Gengras led the way with a game-high of five points from three goals and two assists.
  • Hayden Smith tied her career-high of four points in the contest, as she set a career-high of four assists in the Owls’ victory.
  • Varricchione continued her impressive freshman season with four more points as she scored three goals and had an assist on the attack, while winning a game-high six draw controls and causing a pair of turnovers for KSC.
  • Nicotera made four saves on her 12 shots faced in goal for KSC, while Bushey made 12 saves on her 23 shots seen in goal for the Corsairs.
  • KSC only failed to clear three times as the Owls went 13-for-16 (81.3%), while KSC cause UMD to go 16-for-29 (55.2) on clears.
  • KSC capitalized on 50% of their free position shots as they went 3-for-6, besting the Corsairs going 2-for-7 (28.6%).

Up Next

Keene State returns to action at home for their final home game of their 2025 regular season for senior day against Rhode Island College this Saturday, April 19 at noon.
UMass-Dartmouth returns to action at home this Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m. for their next contest against Western Connecticut State University.