Keene State 3, Worcester State 0
Worcester, MA --- Keene State sophomore Elizabeth Coffin (Sugar Hill, NH) registered three points and senior Erin Dallas (Marlow, NH) notched a pair of defensive saves as the Owls shutout Worcester State this afternoon 3-0 in Little East action at Coughlin Stadium.
Senior Carley Benning's (Brewster, MA) put Keene State up 1-0 at 6:45 on their first shot of the game on an assist by Coffin. The Owls (11-4, 6-2 LEC found the back of the net nearly 10 minutes later when sophomore Alyce Ferenec (Rummey, NH) hit a rocket off of a rebounded shot in the middle of the circle for the unassisted tally.
Coffin capped off the scoring for the visitors when Coffin tacked on the third KSC marker as classmate Aislynn Sherry (Rehoboth, MA) added the helper at 23:05.
Worcester State (3-12, 0-8 LEC) continued to pressure Keene State for the rest of the first period as they notched four of their six shots in the stanza in the last seven minutes of the frame. Both of their shots on goal were rejected by senior keeper Vikki Stroessel (Derry, NH). Those were the only saves that Stroessel would notch as she would be relieved by junior Meghan Ledoux (Standish, ME) to start the second.
After Keene State fired two shots early on in the final half, the Lancers went on the offensive and sophomore Samantha Janda (Sterling, MA) had a good look at the right side of the cage, but her attempt was immediately rejected by Dallas, who added her team-leading sixth defensive save of the season.
Worcester State had another great opportunity to try and break the shutout again with 20 minutes left in the contest, but their five shots on goal were all stopped by Ledoux. WSC tried again eight minutes later with four quick shots in the span of 20 seconds, but their two bids on the keeper were each saved.
The Owls then went on the offensive and kept the ball on the Lancer side of the field for the remainder of the game. Worcester State held off five penalty corners and their two shots on the net were blocked by junior Katherine Masterjohn (Warren, MA).
Worcester State barely edged out Keene State in shots (17-16) as they were at an even 11-11 in the second period. The Owls held a 10-7 advantage in corners. WSC sophomore Amanda Maillet (Saugus, MA) also added her third defensive save of the season in the first.
Masterjohn made eight saves for the Lancers while Ledoux ended the final stanza with six stops. Janda led WSC with five shots while sophomore Sarah Cozzens (Lancaster, MA) also finished with four.
Both teams will continue Little East play on Wednesday with night games. The Lancers will travel to Western Connecticut for a 7 PM game while Keene State entertains Salem State at