Box Score
KEENE, N.H. – Junior attack Warren Channing (Glastonbury) scored four times in recording his 20^th goal of the season and sophomore goalie Gregory Hilinski (Shelton) made a season-high 16 saves but Keene State College pulled away from a four-goal lead after three quarters to a post a 17-7 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in the Little East Conference men's lacrosse opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.
 
A loser of two straight after winning three of its first four matches, Eastern (3-3) played Keene (3-4) evenly for 33 minutes – each team scoring four goals in that span -- after the Owls had scored the first four goals of the match, and trailed by only three, 8-5 late in the third quarter before the hosts put together another four-goal streak en route to scoring nine of the final 11 goals.
 
Eastern, which has committed an average of less than two penalties a match, was assessed only one (for 30 seconds) which allowed Keene just one extra-man try that was killed off late in the second quarter.
 
Channing, who scored 21 goals in 17 games in 2023, reached 20 goals again this year by scoring four times on seven shots but was the only Eastern player with more than one.
 
Keene had twice as many shots and ground balls and won 70 percent of the faceoffs but Hilinski kept the Warriors close by making 16 saves.

First-year starting midfielder Logan Pych  (Vernon, NJ) won five ground balls and first-year faceoff specialist Gavin DeLucia (Uncasville) came off the bench to win four of ten at the faceoff X and pick up four ground balls.

Rex Maccarini and Jake Dubiel combined to score nine of Keene's goal, but no other player managed more than one. Gabe Pereira won 18 of 25 faceoffs for the Owls.
 
The Warriors play the second of eight straight season-ending conference games Saturday, hosting Salem State University at Rick McCarthy Field at 1 p.m.
 
Eastern has won all 21 contests against the Vikings in the series, which began with Eastern's second intercollegiate season in 1997. Last year's score at O'Keefe Field in Salem was 14-6, with Warriors striking for six goals in the fourth quarter to pull away. Current junior midfielder Mike Stevenson (Shelton) led the way in that game with six goals, current senior faceoff specialist Rick O'Neal (East Hartford) won 14 of 22 faceoffs, and as a first-year player, Hilinski turned back 15 shots.