Owl Power: Keene State Works Castleton
from press release
KEENE, N.H. – Matt Schairer (Wrentham, Mass.) netted
five goals and Griffin Meehan (Simsbury, Conn.) had two goals and
five assists to lead Keene State College to a 21-7 victory over
Castleton (Vt.) State College in a first-round NCAA men's lacrosse
tournament game played at Owl Athletic Complex on Wednesday.
Extending its winning streak to 10 games, Keene State (13-5) moves
onto the second-round where it will play defending national champs
Cortland State on Saturday at SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. (TBD)
The Red Dragons (15-2) received a first-round bye.
Making its first NCAA appearance, Castleton State concludes its
season with a 13-6 mark. The Spartans entered the game riding a
10-game winning streak.
The Owls jumped out to a 9-1 lead after the first quarter and never
looked back. "Our plan was to get the bugs out quickly," said KSC
Coach Mark Theriault. "Once you get a couple of goals everyone
relaxes and they play really well."
KSC turned the first two face-off wins into goals with Schairer and
senior Jamie LeSage (Exeter, N.H.) finding the back of the net.
Schairer added a two-man up goal to make it 3-0.
Griffin, who assisted on five of the Owls' six goals, broke the
school season assist record (36) and also became the first KSC
player to eclipse the 100-point mark (104) in a season. "The quick
start was due to Griffin, dodging and setting up plays," said
Schairer, who also had two assists. "He was finding the open
man."
Keene State scored three goals in the final minute of the quarter,
Schairer scored on a man-up opportunity, Griffin went around two
Spartan defenders to make it 8-1 with 11 seconds to go, and
Schairer completed the onslaught going low for a goal with just two
seconds left on the clock.
KSC led 11-2 at the half and 16-4 after three quarters on the way
to posting its third NCAA tournament win in the program's
history.
Defensively, the KSC never let the Spartans get untracked. "We knew
which players to watch, so we just tried to create better match-ups
for us," said senior Easton Kezer (Derry, N.H.) who raised havoc in
Castleton's offensive zone with his stick work, causing four
turnovers and scooping up six ground balls.
Lesage had a good day in the face-off circle winning 11 of 16
attempts.
A large lead allowed Theriault a chance to rest his starters and
give many of his reserves a chance to play in their first NCAA
game. Many of the seniors also got significant playing time in
their final game at Owl Athletic Complex. "It's surreal. It hasn't
hit me yet," said Kezer.
Freshman Ian Hart (Richmond, N.H.) had three goals while junior
Ryan Shairs (Beverly, Mass.), LeSage, and sophomore Matt Crimmins
(Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) each tallied two goals. Freshman Taylor
Jette (Simsbury, Conn.), juniors Colin Barnett (Cheshire, Conn.),
Cam Souza (Hollis, N.H.) and Mike Araujo (Southborough, Mass.), and
sophomore J.T. Galloway (Simsbury, Conn.) round out the scoring for
KSC.
Juniors Craig MacDerment (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and Michael DelDotto
(Reading, Mass.) each had two goals for the Spartans.
Keene State freshman goalie Jason Lesser (Brewster, N.Y.) finished
the game with 10 saves. Sophomore David DeGhetto (Clifton, N.J.)
had a busy day in goal for Castleton, stopping 21 shots.
The Owls are making their third trip to the NCAA tournament. In
2005, KSC lost an opening-round game to Endicott College 11-10. In
2007, the Owls defeated Merchant Marine 14-11 at Owl Athletic
Complex, becoming the first LEC team to win an NCAA game. Advancing
to the second-round, KSC lost to Western New England 13-5.
