Owls Turn Their Attention to LEC Tournaments

           KEENE, N.H. 4/28/08 - With their regular seasons concluded, three Keene State spring teams will turn their attention to their respective Little East Conference tournaments that begin this week.

            The third seeded KSC women's lacrosse team (11-6) will kick off tournament week with a first-round game against six seed Rhode Island College (3-11) on Tuesday night (7 p.m.) at Owl Athletic Complex. 

            The Owls have never lost to the Anchorwomen, winning all 10 meetings, including two tournament games.  KSC rolled to a 20-2 quarterfinal win in 2002 and outlasted the Anchorwomen in three overtimes, 12-11 in a first-round game last spring.  Earlier this season, KSC handled RIC 20-8 in Providence.

            "If we come to play, we can take it all," said KSC Coach Michelle Mason.

            Led by the high-scoring freshmen duo of Jill Kirk (49-11-60) and Jenny Lillis (43-9-52), a young KSC team has already established new marks for goals (250), assists (131), and points (381) in a season. Senior captain Lanaya Nelson (20-32-52) is just two assists shy of Coach Mason's season assist record (34) set in 2002. 

            "I have all the confidence in the world in our freshmen, but it's up to the seniors to get them going," said Mason.

            The KSC women's lacrosse team reached the LEC finals in 2004.  Last season, the Owls lost to Plymouth State (10-2) in the semifinals.

            The Keene State men's lacrosse team (9-2) will begin defense of its LEC championship with a semifinal game on Thursday (4 p.m.).  The second seeded Owls received a first-round bye and will be play the winner of the #3 Western Conn -#6 UMass-Boston game.

            KSC has received strong seasons from junior attack Tony Santa Fe (30-22-52) while senior Matt Johnson (6.99 GAA, .653 SV%) has continued his strong play in goal.   

            Rolling along with an undefeated record and national ranking, the Owls hit a bump in road, losing consecutive games to Williams (13-4) and tournament top seed Eastern Conn. (11-10, 3-OT).  Finishing their regular season with victories over Colby College (11-10) and Southern Maine (15-2), the Owls there is no margin for mistakes in the tournament.

            "We have to treat every game likes it's our last one," said KSC Coach Mark Theriault.  "We'd like to get another crack at Eastern Conn., but we can't look ahead."

            Looking for its third LEC crown, KSC easily defeated both of its potential semifinal opponents, beating WCSU (14-5) and UMB (17-3).

            KSC softball coach Charlie Beach hopes history repeats itself at the six-team LEC Tournament that begins Thursday at top seed Eastern Conn.  The Owls have claimed the championship as a fourth seed in 2000 and a fifth seed in 2003. 

            The fourth seeded Owls (22-10) begin their quest for a fifth LEC championship when they face #3 Western Conn. (28-11) on Thursday (5 p.m.). 

            Led by juniors Katie Allenson (6 hrs.-31 rbis-.510 avg.) and Jenna Patnode (5 hrs-27 rbis-.395 avg.), KSC is hitting a robust .342.  The Owls will need to match the hitting with solid pitching.  Expect to see senior Ashlee Nicholson (12-4, 1.98 era) a lot in the circle. 

            Despite dropping an early season doubleheader to the Colonials (4-1 and 16-9), Beach feels the Owls can play with any team in the field.  "We've been very competitive against all the teams in the tournament," said Beach.  "The players feel very positive and look forward to going to a different site at Eastern Conn."

            Beach knows anything can happen in the highly competitive tournament.  "I wouldn't put my money on any team," he said.