Owl Teams Prep for LEC Tournament Play
From Stuart Kaufman, Sports Information: A spring season that began with frozen lacrosse balls and snow-covered baseball and softball fields, and somehow circumvented the countless postponements and cancellations along the way, has culminated with the start of Little East Conference tournament play for Keene State College teams this week. The Owls will be in the thick of tournament play with all four of their teams in action. KSC coaches, young and old, felt it was an unusual regular season and are looking forward to the tournament.
Keene State men’s and women’s lacrosse teams earned first-round byes and will get the ball rolling on April 30 with semifinal games. Tying a program record with six straight wins, the second-seeded Owl women’s lacrosse team (10-7) will host the winner between #3 Plymouth State and #6 Western Conn. at 3:30 p.m. The Owls, who reached the finals in 2004, are looking for their first LEC championship. They were edged out by Southern Maine (17-16) in the semifinals last year.
Also seeded second, the Keene State men’s lacrosse team (8-3) will take the field at 6 p.m. when they face the winner of the quarterfinal game between #3 Southern Maine and #6 Salem State. The Owls, who claimed tournament titles in 2005 and 2007, were upset in the semifinals by Western Conn. (14-13, OT) last spring. Championship games in both lacrosse tournaments will be played at the highest remaining seed on Saturday.
Hoping to carry the momentum of the improbable 9-8 come-back victory over three-time defending champ R.I. College on April 26, the KSC softball team (22-11) will head down to Providence as the tournament’s second seed. Winners of 14 of their last 16 games, the Owls will face fifth-seed Plymouth State in first-round action on April 30 at 12 p.m. KSC won the tournament in 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2005.
“This team has been steady and has matured throughout the season,” said KSC softball coach Charlie Beach. “I don’t think they will be fazed by the pressure of participating in the tournament.”
The defending champion and third-seeded KSC baseball team (20-14) will face sixth-seed UMass-Dartmouth in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 2, at noon. If a third game is needed, it will be played at noon on Sunday. Each winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the four-team double-elimination tournament at the highest remaining seed.
