MANSFIELD, Conn. – Sophomore midfielder Haile Ratajack and senior attack Ali Daisy combined for 11 goals and three assists and Keene State College ran away with a 20-7 Little East Conference women's lacrosse victory to hand Eastern Connecticut State University its first home loss in four decisions Saturday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.
Keene (2-2, 2-1 LEC) spotted Eastern (7-3, 1-2 LEC) the first goal, then roared back behind Daisy and Ratajack (two goals each) for the next seven goals over eight minutes to gain the momentum it never relinquished. Keene allowed Eastern to score as many as two straight only once when sophomore team scoring leader
Caroline Stent (Weatogue) potted two in 2+ minutes that cut the Owls' lead to 7-3 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Keene's goal total is the highest by either team in this 31-match series, as is the final winning margin. Keene defeated Eastern for the third straight time since losing four in a row to the Warriors.
Two prolonged scoring surges were the difference in the game for Keene. After sprinting to a 7-1 lead early with its seven straight goals, the Owls put together another run of six unanswered goals that put the game away for good – from a seven goal lead in the final minute of the first half to a 13-goal, 18-5 lead with 11 minutes left.
The team scoring leader, Ratajack led both teams with six goals to go along with an assist while Daisy had five goals and two assists. Ratajack helped her team to a +3 edge in draws by winning eight and also picking up four ground balls and causing three turnovers. Junior attack Brigid Casey had two goals, three assists and won five draws and sophomore midfielder Mindy St. Marie chipped in three goals and won four ground balls and senior midfielder Megan Gorham added three goals and won three draws.
Junior Haley Terva stopped ten shots to even her record at 2-2 for Keene.
Stent had three goals, senior midfielder
Tristan Kijak (Windsor) two and senior attack
Sydney Hogan (Northford) two assists. Kijak won seven of the team's 13 draws.
Eastern hosts Western Connecticut in a conference match Tuesday at 4 p.m.
