Box Score LEC Playoff Bracket
MANSFIELD, Conn. – On Seniors' Day, senior Tess Mraz (Fairfield) scored 2:13 into sudden-death overtime to cap an Eastern Connecticut State University comeback from eight goals down and give the Warriors a 16-15 women's lacrosse decision over previously unbeaten Keene State College and a share of the Little East Conference regular-season championship.
Keene (9-7, 5-1 LEC) was looking to complete an unbeaten conference season and earn the No. 1 seed, but Eastern (11-5, 5-1 LEC) rallied from an 11-3 deficit with 4:34 left in the first half to snap a six-game losing streak to Keene, last year's LEC tournament champion.
With the win, Eastern finishes with a share of its sixth LEC regular-season title (first since 2011) and earns the playoff's No. 1 seed. The Warriors and No. 2 seeded Owls earn first-round playoff byes and will host semifinal-round games on their campuses Thursday. After missing the six-team playoffs each of the last two seasons, Eastern will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round match between No. 4 Plymouth State University and No. 5 Massachusetts Dartmouth in the semifinals. The Warriors defeated 2015 LEC regular-season champion Plymouth, 9-8, on the road and lost its only LEC regular-season game, 14-13, at UMass Dartmouoth.
The victory Saturday evens Eastern's record in one-goal decisions this year at 2-2.
Keene, which had a five-game winning streak snapped, dominated the first half and led 11-4 at the break before the Warriors turned the tables for an 11-4 scoring advantage in the second half that forced the first overtime game between the schools since the Warriors posted a 15-14, four-overtime triumph on their home field in 2011. Eastern leads in OT games, 3-2.
The Warriors scored three goals in the final three minutes of regulation to force overtime -- the tying one coming from junior Paige Schneider (East Lyme) with four seconds left -- and Mraz connected on her first goal in more than 20 minutes on an assist from freshman Michelina Pinto (Groton) with 47.4 seconds remaining in the first three-minutes sudden-death OT period.
In overtime, the teams combined for four turnovers before sophomore Katie Burke (South Windsor) hit the iron on the first shot. Keene commited its third OT turnover on the other end, caused by junior defender Taylor Pendergast (South Windsor) and picked up by sophomore defender Taylor Behn (Amherst, NH) in the right corner. Behn's perfect pass found Pinto in full stride at midfield. Pinto outran one defender and carried toward goal before passing on the left side to an open Mraz, who beat the goalie top shelf for the game-ending goal.
Junior goalie Taylor Emmerson (Colchester) made seven saves in the second half and finished with 11 while junior Alison Argiro and freshman Anna O'Brien combined for seven in net for Keene. Argiro started the game and was replaced with 12:40 left in regulation after the Warriors scored their sixth straight goal to cut the Keene lead to 13-11. She returned for overtime. Argiro stopped five shots and allowed 12 goals while O'Brien made two saves and allowed four goals.
Eastern junior defender Devyne Doran (South Kingstown, RI) won five of Eastern's 19 draws and caused three turnovers; Schneider reached the 50-goal plateau in the game, finishing with seven, while Pinto had three goals, two assists and won six draws and Burke two goals and four assists.
It was a game of surges as Keene scored five straight and ten of the game's 11 to move out to a 10-2 lead with six minutes left in the first half. During the Warriors' run of six straight in a span of eight minutes that pulled them to within 13-11, Schneider connected on three, Pinto , Burke and Mraz each chipping in one. Burke set up the first three in that spurt with assists, giving her 29 on the season. Burke's assist total is the seventh-highest by an Eastern player in a season and Schneider's 54 goals rank her in a tie for 12th all-time in a season.
Eastern experienced scoring droughts of nine and eight minutes in the first half and Keene went eight minutes without a goal in the second. The Owls managed only two goals in the final 24 minutes of regulation and overtime after striking for ten through the first 24 minutes of the game.
Senior Kaitlin Nolan led Keene with six goals and two assists. She also won five draws. Conference assist leader Taylor Graf handed out four assists and scored two goals and junior Amanda Makar caused five turnovers.
The teams combined for 66 turnovers in the contest and combined to convert seven of 14 free-position goals.
