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Owls to face Middlebury College in NCAA Tournament on Wednesday
KEENE, N.H. 5/4/09 - The Little East champion Keene State women's lacrosse team will makes its inaugural appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) when they travel to Middlebury College to face the Panthers in a first-round game.
The Owls (12-8) earned the berth with a stunning 9-8 overtime win against Eastern Conn. in the Little East Conference championship game on Saturday. The Middlebury women's lacrosse team (9-5) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after suffering a 17-12 loss to Colby in a NESCAC semifinal game played at Tufts on Saturday. The winner of the game will advance to an NCAA Regional at Colby.
Keene State will be facing a tournament-tested Middlebury College team. The Panthers have never had a losing season. The squad has won five NCAA Championships since '97, including four perfect seasons ('99, '01, '02, and ‘04). The Panthers also made 14 straight trips to the final four from '94-'07 and have appeared in seven NCAA title games. The Panthers have also hosted all eight NESCAC Tournament, winning the title seven times.
"I wasn't surprise with our draw," said Katie Arsenault, the Owls first-year coach. "The top five teams in the region are really strong. "I think it will be a good experience for us."
As far as going up a national-caliber opponent, Arsenault said "I'm going to tell the team to treat it like any other game," she said. "Just going up there and showing we can play against such a strong team would be a major accomplishment. We're not expected to win, so all the pressure is pretty much off. We're going to go up and play lacrosse and have fun."
Improving as the season progressed; Keene State will enter the tournament riding a program record eight game winning streak.
