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Owls and Spartans to Square Off on Wednesday in NCAA Tournament at Owl Athletic Complex at 4 p.m.
KEENE, N.H. 5/9/10 – The Keene State College men's lacrosse team will host Castleton State College on Wednesday, May 12th in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 4 p.m.
The Owls, who will be hosting their first NCAA Tournament game since a 14-11 victory over Merchant Marine Academy on May 9th, 2007, received the automatic bid into the championship after a thrilling 14-10 victory over the Eastern Conn. State Warriors on Saturday evening at Owl Athletic Complex.
Riding a nine-game winning streak, KSC improved to 12-5 on the season in the victory.
Keene State got six goals from tournament MVP Griffin Meehan (Simsbury, Conn.) and overcame the adversity of losing top goalie junior Alec Corliss (Waltham, Mass.) midway in the third quarter to defeat the rival Warriors for the LEC Crown. Corliss, who had made 10 saves, several on point-blank shots, went down following a collision at the side of the net at the 8:30 mark of the third-quarter. Nursing a slim 10-8 lead at the time, the Owls rallied behind their fallen goalie.
Freshman Jonathan Roderick (Plaistow, N.H.) had three goals, Jette had two and senior Jamie LeSage (Exeter, N.H.), sophomore J.T. Galloway (Simsbury, Conn.), and Dill each scored a goal.
On the season, the Owls are led by Meehan's school-record 66 goals and 97 points. The sophomore is also first on the team in assists, with 31, just three away from Joe Branciforte's record of 34 set back in 2003.
KSC is also paced by attackers Matt Schairer (Wrentham, Mass.) and Taylor Jette (Simsbury, Conn.). Shairer has 73 points on 52 goals and 21 assists in his first season for the Owls, while Jette has 34 goals and 18 assists for 52 points in his freshman campaign.
On face-offs, the LEC Champs have basically split time with senior Jamie LeSage (Exeter, N.H.) and junior Michael Araujo (Southborough, Mass.) doing the work inside the trenches. LeSage has a .582 percentage on 117-of-201 attempts, while Araujo has won 103-of-193.
Keene State is led defensively by seniors Kyle Barnett (Londonderry, N.H.) and Easton Kezer (Derry, N.H.). Kezer, who leads the Owls in caused turnovers with 21, is followed by Barnett's 20. Barnett also leads the team in groundballs with 90.
In goal, freshman Jason Lesser (Brewster, N.Y.) has split time this season with Corliss, playing in 13 games and making seven starts. Lesser has a record of 6-3 with a .531 save percentage, an 8.22 goals against average and 78 saves on the season.
The Castleton State College men's lacrosse team ended Mount Ida College's six-year run of North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's lacrosse titles with an 11-5 win on a rain-soaked field on Saturday.
Castleton (13-5, 8-1 NAC) senior Jake Rick (Rochester, MY/West Irondequoit) was awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. The Mustangs, who had won each of the previous six championships (all over Castleton), have now lost just two games versus conference opponents in their history, both coming at the hands of the Spartans.
Mount Ida’s hopes for a late heroic comeback were snuffed out while they watched the Spartans score the final three goals of the contest on scores from senior Daniel Luzzi (Oakland, NJ/Ramapo College), Michael Martinez (Barrington, IL/Barrington) , and Nohea King (St. Albans, VT/Bellows Free Academy) to seal the 11-5 championship victory for the first title win in program and school history.
On the season, the Spartans were led by Samuel Bailey (Hartford, VT) with 59 points on 26 goals and 33 assists. Martinez leads Castleton State in goals with 42, while King is third on the team in points with 38 on 23 goals and 15 helpers on the season.
On the face-offs, junior Craig MacDerment (Clifton Park, N.Y.) has a .745 percentage winning 231-of-310 battles.
Defensively, the Spartans are led by freshman Evan Cassidy (S. Burlington, VT) with 29 caused turnovers. Senior Jake Rick (Rochester, N.Y.) is second on the team with 25.
In net, sophomore David DeGhetto (Clifton, N.J.) is 11-5 on the season with a .584 save percentage, a 7.92 goals against average and 164 saves on the year.
For the full NCAA tournament bracket click here.
