Box Score  

GORHAM, Maine –  University of Colorado transfer Katelyn D'Appolonia scored five of the University of Southern Maine's  first eight goals and the Huskies held off a late Eastern Connecticut State University charge to post a 15-13 women's lacrosse decision on the final day of the Little East Conference regular season Saturday that relegated the Warriors to the No. 5 seed and into an LEC playoff first-round road match.
 
Eastern (12-5, 4-4 LEC) will visit fourth-seeded Keene State College (11-5 heading into a Saturday night non-conference match, 5-3 LEC) in a first-round match Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.. Southern Maine (12-5, 6-2) breaks from a three-way tie for third place with Eastern and Keene State, and as the No. 3 seed, will host sixth-seeded  University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (9-8, 3-5 LEC) in the other first-round match Tuesday at 5 p.m.
 
An Eastern win would have forged a three-way tie for third place, with tie-breakers needing to determine the two teams which would host first-round games as the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds.
 
A winner of six of its final seven regular-season matches and seven of eight this year at Hannaford Field, Southern Maine tied the game, 7-7,  for the fifth and final time on D'Appolonia's fourth goal of the match with 24 seconds left in the first half and went ahead for good on D'Appolonia's 50^th goal of the season 24 seconds  into the second half. D'Appolonia has missed five matches this year but still ranks seventh in the LEC with 52 goals and first with an average of 4.33 per game.
 
Eastern was outscored 8-2 in the first 15+ minutes of the second half and trailed by six, 15-9 before shutting out the hosts over the final 14+ minutes of the game,  responding with the final four goals in the last nine minutes to slice a six-goal deficit to the final two-goal margin.
 
After junior attack Sydney Goyette's (Westfield, MA) extra-man goal (Eastern's fifth of the match to go along with a man-down strike late in the first half), made it a two-goal game with just under three minutes left, Eastern got the ball back with a minute left thanks to second-team All-LEC graduate midfielder Kaylee Drobish's (Wallingford) caused turnover and ground ball.
 
First-team All-LEC sophomore defender Grace Saldána (Colchester) cleared the ball herself and, with Eastern in a  man-advantage, first-team All-LEC junior attack Alexa Vizzini (Vernon, NJ) fired a low shot from up top that was saved by USM senior goalie Lydia Laslavic (her 11^th of the match), a first-year starter after taking over this year for 2024 LEC Goalie-of-the-Year Cece Racine.  Eastern forced a turnover on the ensuing USM possession but could not get a shot off as time expired.
 
Senior Emma Alford (West Hartford) stopped five shots over the first three quarters and absorbed her first loss in her fifth decision, while first-year goalie Maizie Rukat (Manchester, VT) allowed one goal in the fourth quarter to improve her goals-against average to 11.01.
 
While Eastern has held a considerable advantage in draw controls this year, D'Appoloni outdrew the Warriors by herself (13-10) to help USM to a +12 advantage in that department. D'Appoloni averages nearly six draws per game, second-best in the LEC.
 
Senior midfielder Abby Parisi (Fairfield) had three goals, two assists, five ground balls and two draws for Eastern, with graduate midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford) adding three goals. Her three draws give her 84 on the season, fourth-best in the LEC this year and fourth-most in a season in program history. Vizzini's three points move her to within eight of 200 career points and Goyette's two points move her to within six of 100 in her career. Vizzini also caused four turnovers that give her a team-leading 21 this year.
 
The loss was the fourth straight against the Huskies at Hannaford Field for Eastern, which had won three of its last four heading into play.
 

First-round match features traditional LEC playoff rivals
 
A year ago, No. 3 seed Eastern eliminated No. 6 UMass Dartmouth at home in the first round before being eliminated at No. 2 Keene, 16-8.

Eastern and Keene are meeting in the LEC playoffs for the 11^th time, the Owls having won seven – including the last four – and the Warriors three. Eastern has won four LEC playoff titles in 22 years – the last coming in 2013 – while Keene has won five – the last time in 2016.
 
The Warriors are 4-8 in 12  finals appearances, most recently in 2018, while Keene is an eight-time finalist with a 5-3 record, losing a year ago to Plymouth State University in the championship game.
 
Keene brings a ten-game winning streak against Eastern into the match, the most recent one coming in a 15-11 decision April 9 at the Owl Athletic Complex. In that game, the Warriors won most everywhere but on the scoreboard, outshooting Keene by 11, forcing goalkeeper Mabelle Bessette to make 14 saves, and turning the ball over eight less times.
 
While Eastern holds a +4 average advantage over its opponents in draws won per game, Keene won that battle (16-14) against Eastern earlier this year, with eight different players – led by first-team All-LEC midfielder Tess Brown's five – managing at least one for Keene.
 
Vizzini, Eastern's leading scorer, connected on just one of 12 shots for Eastern in the match, with Parisi, LeBeau and first-year attack Hannah Seltzer (Westerly, RI) each punching in three. Senior attack Chase Gengras led Keene with five goals, with Brown – the team scoring leader with 40+ -- adding three, as did senior Lola Smith.