Purple Knights Erase Deficit But Fall in Overtime

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's tallied four goals in the final 13 minutes of regulation to force overtime on Thursday before Keene State senior Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) tallied with 2:37 left in the extra session to lift the Owls to a 10-9 victory at Duffy Field. Each team was opening its season. Keene State qualified for the Division III NCAA Tournament last year.

Senior Eliza Scoba (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) led the Purple Knights with three goals, while sophomore Crystal King (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) tallied two markers and added one assist. Sophomore Beth Cusimano (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) finished with one goal.

Freshmen Hannah Beardsley (Essex, Mass./Manchester Essex Regional), Melissa Jaskiewicz (Kensington, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and Courtney Piper (Wolfeboro, N.H./Brewster Academy) all tallied their first collegiate goals to finish off the scoring. Senior Sandy Palumbo (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) finished with 15 saves and six ground balls, and sophomore Caroline Casper (Norfolk, Mass./Thayer Academy) dished off two assists.

Corace finished with four goals and one assist, while junior Lauren Brown (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) scored three markers. Sophomore Julie Trombetta (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) added two tallies, senior Sammi Benson (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) had four assists, while sophomore Erin Taylor (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) turned aside 14 shots.

The Owls took a 3-0 lead by 14:48 into the first half, but Jaskiewicz tallied 20 seconds later, and Scoba scored her first goal of the contest with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the half to cut the deficit to one goal. However, Keene State reestablished its three-goal lead with two markers in 44 seconds.

The Purple Knights scored two goals in the final 4:27 of the first half and then Cusimano found the back of the net 26 seconds into the second half to knot the score at five. Keene State built a 9-5 lead behind four straight goals, with the first three coming in a 5:17 stretch, and the final coming with 13:48 remaining. Saint Michael's responded 35 seconds later, as Scoba notched her second marker to spark a four-goal run, with Beardsley tying the game with 5:39 left.

Each team took a pair of shots in overtime, with Corace's marker with 2:37 to go in the second portion of the first overtime accounting for the only scoring. Palumbo stopped another shot 19 seconds later, and Taylor turned aside the hosts' final shot at 1:24.

The Purple Knights head to Georgia for a pair of contests over Spring Break, starting with a match-up against Savannah College of Art and Design on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.

2012-03-08