Owl Lacrosse Team Set for LEC Semifinal Games

KEENE, N.H., 5/2/07 - Keene State College men’s and women’s lacrosse teams will play semifinal Little East Conference tournament games on Thursday.

The top-seed Keene State men’s team (13-0) will host fourth-seed Umass Boston (7-6) at the Owl Athletic Complex (5 p.m.). The Owl women’s team (8-5), the third seed, will travel to Plymouth for a 3:30 p.m. game against the second- seed Panthers (11-4). Both championship games will be played at the highest remaining seeds on Saturday (1 p.m.).

Ranked 17th in this week’s USILA poll, the undefeated Keene State men received a first-round bye. UMass Boston defeated Plymouth State on a goal by Christopher Hanafin with 27.4 left in overtime. Third-seed Western Connecticut will face second-seed Eastern Connecticut in the other semifinal match up.

The Keene State women team needed three overtime periods before they dispatched an upset-minded Rhode Island College team 12-11 in a quarterfinal game played on Tuesday night. Junior midfielder Andrea Mitchell played the role of hero scoring a goal in the first overtime and the game winner in the sudden death period. The Owls played the overtime without goalie Jen Gearing, who was issued a red card in the closing seconds of regulation.

Fifth-seed Southern Maine overcame an early deficit to post a 14-11 upset win over fourth-seed UMass Dartmouth. The Huskies will play top seed Eastern Connecticut in the other semifinal contest.

Keene State has advanced to the semifinals the past six seasons. They reached the championship game in 2004, losing to Plymouth State 9-5.

The Keene State softball team also begins LEC tournament play on Thursday.

For the third year in a row, KSC will head to Rhode Island College for the six-team, double-elimination LEC tournament. The second-seeded Owls (25-5, 10-4 LEC) play fifth-seed Southern Maine (18-20, 8-6 LEC) in an opening-round game at 12 p.m.

Keene State claimed the LEC championship in 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2005.

LEC tournament play is also on the horizon for the Keene State baseball team. KSC (25-9, 11-1 LEC) will need to sweep front-runner Eastern Connecticut (26-8, 12-0 LEC) in Saturday’s season-ending twinbill to bring the tournament to Owl Athletic Complex for the first time.