Box Score KEENE, N.H. – There was quiet disappointment and maybe a few tears -- but mostly cheers -- as the Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team applauded itself and saluted its fans moments after closing the book on a watershed season which has transformed the program into a bonafide contender in the Little East Conference.
In its first appearance ever on the big stage in the conference championship game, the Warriors performed like they had been there before, playing defending champion and third-seeded Keene State College to a stalemate for 37 minutes before the hosts – who have been consistently "there" for nearly two decades -- scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the second half to break from a scoreless first half en route to a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Eastern in the championship game of the 2015 Little East Conference championship Saturday at the Owl Athletic Complex.
The title is the third straight and 11th in the 18-year history of the championship for Keene State (16-7), which was making its 15th appearance in the final after sharing the LEC regular-season title. Eastern (13-7) was making its first finals appearance after winning a program-record eight of 11 regular-season LEC matches this year. The Owls won by a 2-1 score over Eastern for the third straight time, all three of the games played at Keene and the first coming in overtime in the first round of last year's playoffs.
Eas
tern, which outshot Keene, 11-10 and matched the Owls' six penalty corners, cut the gap to 2-1 on junior midfielder Paige Schneider's (East Lyme) sixth goal of the season. The Warriors did not have an opportunity to tie the match as Schneider's goal after time had expired on the completion of a penalty corner hit in by sophomore Alex Kallgren (Dudley, MA) with ten seconds left.
At left: Mackenzie Brower (3) and Hannah Keiser (10), along with classmates Jessia Oliveira and Laura Chicorka, helped carry the Warriors to the top of the Little East Conference during their four-year careers, culminating in a berth in the LEC title game Saturday.
Trailing 2-0, the Warriors could not capitalize on extra-man opportunities after yellow cards were issued to three different Keene players in a span of less than two minutes midway through the second half (yellow cards come with a minimum penalty of five minutes).
Conference junior scoring leader Sami Smith ended a 37-minute scoreless dual when, stationed at the right post, re-directed junior Kayla Renaud's drive past Eastern junior goalie Samantha Scavo (Redding) off senior Emily Medeiros' penalty corner for her 24th goal of the season.
Just over 13 minutes later, Keene pushed its advantage to two goals when Renauld smashed a penalty corner hit in by junior Brittney Cardente through the Eastern defense directly inside the right post with two 20 minutes left in regulation.
In the second half, Eastern outshot the Owls by two and had one more penalty corner. Renauld's insurance goal came on the team's fourth and final penalty corner of the half.
At left: Alex Kallgren
Eastern, which had won a program-record six matches since the 2-1 loss at Keene three weeks ago, had the better of play in the first half. The Warriors had a number of re-starts in Keene's defensive third, but could not break through.
Keene was limited to only two penalty corners in the half, coming five minutes apart. The first produced a harmless shot which carried wide and senior back Mackenzie Brower (Granby) broke up the attempt off the second penalty corner before a shot could be attempted.
The Warriors were limited to only one penalty corner in the first half, coming inside the final four minutes, with senior forward Laura Chicorka (Enfield) blasting a shot off the side of the cage.
The first of Keene's four cards in the match – a green card with 13.8 seconds left in the first half – did not result in a shot on net by Eastern on the re-start just outside the circle.
Down 2-0 in the second half, Eastern was awarded a penalty corner with 17:35 left, but senior forward Hannah Keiser's (Danbury) hard shot from the top of the circle ran wide of the right post. Five minutes later, Brower had two of Eastern's most dangerous shots – the first coming after she carried inside the circle and the second off a penalty corner – but senior goalie Meaghan Dwyer came out to make pad saves on both.
Prior to Schneider's goal with no time remaining, one of the Warriors' final scoring chance came with ten minutes left, when Chicorka dribbled inside the circle, before unleashing a pass which was deflected by senior forward Brianna Passero (Trumbull) to Kallgren -- the third-leading scorer in the conference – whose shot carried right of the post.
At left: Paige Schneider
Scavo made four saves, while Dwyer stopped seven shots and was named playoff MVP.
A winner of only one LEC playoff match through the first 17 seasons of conference playoff competition, the Warriors moved into this year's final with home wins over No. 5 Westfield State (3-0) in last Tuesday's first round and No. 8 Fitchburg State (2-1) in Thursday's semifinal.
Against Keene Saturday, Keiser tied the program career record with her 74th start and finished two shy of the career record of 29 goals. Her 218 career shots set a program record.
As a team, Eastern set numerous season records, among those for wins, consecutive wins, conference wins, home wins (9), goals (47), assists (33) and points (127).
