Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Field Hockey team under first-year head coach Sophia Monopoli traveled to Keene State tonight to play Keene in a non conference weekend match up with former LEC rivals Keene State. The Lancers were looking to capture their first win of the season as they moved closer to a conference slate of games.
The match started at 1 pm with the temperature cooling off after the last days of intense heat, but the turf was still scorching as the game began. In the last game against Springfield the Lancers were kept off the scoresheet in spite of a number of good offensive sets in the striking zone. The short turnaround from Springfield and Keene State saw minimal lineup changes. The most significant addition to the starting lineup was third-year goalkeeper Madison Ferrera (Somerset, MA) stepping between the pipes. Unfortunately for the Lancers, they would go down early as the Keene State Owls would score in the first quarter with 8 minutes left to go. The Owls would continue positive offensive play but some great defensive stops and goalkeeping kept the scoreline 1-0. The Lancers had a decent attempt with 1 minute left to go in the period but senior Grace Adam's (Leominster, MA) shot would go a little wide of the mark.
The second quarter would see much of the same with the Owls combining in the midfield and the Lancers having a sturdy defensive structure. Ferrera would register 3 saves this quarter but the Lancers failed to register a shot on target this period.
The third period would see a boost in offensive action. The Owls would score first but only after putting the work in to get navigate around Ferrera. The Lancers responded with great attacking play on the right flank. Junior Sophia Cavallo (Northborough, MA) would have a shot on goal but it would be saved by the Keene State keeper. The rest of the quarter would be pretty mundane until the last 4 minutes when the Lancers would register 3 shots on target from corner set plays, but the Owls were able to make it out unscathed as they managed to clear the ball away to wrap up the quarter.
The last period would be the set of significant action. The quarter opened with a Keene State goal and a Lancers response just 3 minutes later. Junior Natalyna Morin (Barre, MA) would make the game 1-3. Keene State would rally from the lone scoring their 4th and final goal of the day to make the scoreline 4-1. With 2 minutes left in the game Senior attacker Zoe Athanasopoulos (Hopedale, MA) would close the gap to two. Worcester State battled it out in the final minutes in an attempt to find two more goals and to extend the game, but the Owls defense held strong and prevented the comeback bid.
The team now sits at (0-3, 0-0) while the Keene State Owls improve their record to (3-1, 0-0). The Lancers play Westfield State at home in their first conference game on September 15th @7 p.m.