Little East lacrosse semifinal pairings set

KEENE, N.H.   5/5/10 – Keene State men’s and women’s lacrosse teams now know who their opponents will be for Thursday’s Little East Conference semifinal tournament games at Owl Athletic Complex.

The top-seeds in their respective tournaments, both KSC teams received first round byes.

The Keene State men’s lacrosse team (10-5) will face rival Plymouth State University (8-7) at 2:30 p.m. while the Owl women (12-4) will take on the University of Southern Maine (9-9) in a game scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

The second men’s lacrosse semifinal has second seed Eastern Conn. (11-4) going up against third seed Western Conn. (7-9).  In the other semifinal women’s lacrosse match-up, second seed Plymouth State (10-4) battles third-seed Eastern Conn. (8-9).  Tournament championship games will be played at the highest remaining seed on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Panthers rallied from an early 6-0 deficit Tuesday afternoon to defeat fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 15-12, in a first-round tournament game at Panther Field. Senior Brian Giroux and junior Andrew Eriksen combined for nine goals and one assist to lead the PSU. 

KSC, which brings a seven-game winning streak into Thursday’s game, defeated PSU 15-7 earlier this season.

“We match-up pretty well with Plymouth,” said KSC Coach Mark Theriault.  “If we do the things we need to do, we’ll have a good day. 

Theriault isn’t concerned about his team being overconfident.  “The seniors remember being upset by Western Conn. in the semifinals two years ago.  They keep reminding the younger players on the team.”

Keene State has advanced to the LEC finals six out of the past seven years, winning the championship in 2005 and 2007.

Senior Jess Knight and rookie Shelby Turcotte combined to score 14 goals as the fifth-seeded Southern Maine upset fourth-seeded Western Connecticut 17-16, in a first round game Little East women's lacrosse tournament game on Tuesday.

The Keene State women, winners of 10 of its last 11 games, held on for a 10-9 win over the Huskies last Saturday. “We didn’t play well in the second half on Saturday,” said KSC Coach Katie Arsenault.  “The players know what’s at stake and can’t afford any letdowns.”

The Owls are looking for their second consecutive LEC crown.  KSC upset Eastern Conn. 9-8 (OT) in last year’s championship game.

Two KSC players will enter Thursday’s semifinal games closing in on school season records.  Junior Griffin Meehan (56-30-86) is three goals and four assists shy of Owl records while junior Lauren Sawyer (20-56-76) needs three assists to break her own record set last season.