MANSFIELD, CT – Eastern Connecticut State University Field Hockey (3-1, 2-0 LEC) continued their hot start to the 2021 campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over their Little East Conference rival Keene State (1-6, LEC 1-1) at Rick McCarthy Field in the first conference home game of the 2021 season.

    The Owls would fly in fast and furious to start off the match but junior goalie Sarah Gallagher (South Windsor) showed she was up for the challenge. In the first seven minutes of play, Keene State would have two penalty corners which led to three shots reaching Gallagher who deflected them away from the goal mouth to keep the score knotted at zero through the first quarter of play.

    The Warriors would respond with an offensive attack of their own in the second quarter, scoring with 13:28 remaining in the frame when first-year forward Brooke Mercier (Washington) found senior forward Corey Callahan (South Windsor) in the middle of the circle. Callahan sent a bouncing ball to the left side of the net that sophomore goalie Molly Edmark could not get a pad on to put the Warriors in front 1-0. The goal was Callahan's first of the season and fourth in her four-year career at Eastern.

    But the Warriors were not done there as they continued to pepper the Owls with shots in the offensive zone. The consistent pressure eventually led to sophomore forward Isabel Sanchez (Weston) locating senior midfielder Sydney Collentine (New Fairfield) in the center of the goal mouth. Collentine sent the ball past a diving Edmark and into the back of the goal for her first goal of the year and sixth career goal to extend the Warrior lead. Eastern would outshoot Keene State 5-0 in the second quarter and head into the half leading by two goals.

    The Owls would respond in the second half with strong defense and plentiful offensive opportunities in an effort to get themselves back into the game. After four penalty corners taken by junior midfielder Maggie Cahoon and Gallagher making a pair of saves in traffic to keep Keene State at bay, the Owls would finally breakthrough. Junior midfielder Lauren Hausser sent a shot towards the goal that was deflected by sophomore defender Demetria Gonzalez and past Gallagher to cut the Warrior lead to one. Keene State would amass six penalty corners and shots in the third quarter, but Eastern's defense led by junior defender Grace Mangiameli (Suffield) helped preserve the Warrior's lead heading into the final quarter of play.

    Both teams would battle back and forth in the neutral zone as only one shot would be recorded by either squad through the first 11 minutes. That would change when two penalty corners by the Owls led to Gonzalez finding junior forward Ellie Hunkins on the right side of the goal for her fourth goal of the season to tie the game at two. Keene State would have a chance to win at the end of regulation, but Gallagher came up with a save on first-year forward Irini Stefanakos with four seconds remaining and the Warrior defense would clear the ball out of the circle following a penalty corner at the end of regulation.

    As the sun continued to beat down on Rick McCarthy Field, the 7-on-7 sudden death overtime began with both teams struggling to create opportunities to seal the win. That was the case until Isabel Sanchez forced a turnover in the offensive circle before dragging the ball to the left of the defender, shooting it past Edmark in the goal, and celebrating with her teammates as the Warriors won their third straight game of the season by a final score of 3-2.

    Sarah Gallagher earned her third win of the season after making 10 saves on 12 shots in goal for the Warriors to lower her goals against average to 2.30 for the season.

    The victory was Eastern's third against Keene State in their last five matchups after losing the previous 18 games dating back to 2001 against their Little East Conference rivals. This is the second consecutive win for the Warriors against the Owls who earned another 3-2 overtime victory at Rick McCarthy Field on March 26^th when Brianna Nolan (Watertown) scored the overtime game-winner.

    Eastern will head on the road to face Roger Williams University on Wednesday at 7:00 PM before returning home on Saturday, September 25^th for a Little East Conference matchup with Castleton at 2:00 PM. The Warriors are 0-4 all-time against the Spartans with their last matchup coming at home in 2019.