Women’s Lacrosse

Despite struggling early, the Keene State College women’s lacrosse team advanced to a 5-0 conference record with a home win over the Plymouth State University Panthers on April 19.

The Panthers scored the first five goals of the contest, forcing the KSC women to regroup with a timeout at the 20-minute mark. When they resumed play, the Owls came back with new life as junior midfielder Jenna Bellano netted two goals followed by another goal from senior attack Kaitlin Nolan. With the score 5-3, the Panthers reasserted their dominance by rattling off three of the next four goals to keep the Owls in a deficit.

Bellano continued to energize the Owls offensively by tossing an assist to first-year midfielder Samantha Ballard to bring the score to 8-5 at halftime. In the second half, both teams scored one at the start before sophomore midfielder Taylor Farland scored goals on either side of another from Bellano. The Owls then took the lead for good with a goal from junior attack Taylor Graf.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

Nolan, Bellano and sophomore midfielder Tori Weinstock all scored goals before Farland capped off an impressive comeback victory with the final goal of the game. Bellano finished as the team’s high scorer with five goals, while senior defender Laura Gendreau ended with a team high of six ground balls.

The Owls continued their win streak in dominant fashion as they rolled over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs on Saturday, April 23, at home.

After ten minutes, Nolan scored the first goal of the game and Bellano followed by scoring her 100th career goal just two minutes later. After hitting a personal milestone, Bellano scored once again off an assist from Nolan. Weinstock then scored on an unassisted tally with another from Bellano and a goal from Farland for a 6-0 lead.

The Corsairs finally made it on the scoreboard with a goal from Leah Douty before the Owls countered with goals from Kelly Chadnick and Ballard. With the score 8-1, Raquel Riley scored for the Corsairs before Nolan and Chadnick scored their second of the game with Chadnick scoring with a player advantage.

In the second half, the Owls continued their offensive barrage and managed to shutout the Corsairs for good. Meghan Malloy scored on a 2-on-1 fast break with Nolan delivering the pass before Farland netted two more. With six minutes remaining, Erica Stauffer scored followed by the close out goal from Nolan with 54 seconds on the game clock. First-year goalkeeper Anna O’Brien finished her performance with three saves before junior Alison Argiro had five saves in relief.

Men’s Lacrosse

In a game where eight different players for the Keene State College men’s’ lacrosse team scored, the Owls won their Wednesday’s contest against Plymouth State despite an early deficit.

Panthers junior midfielder Colin Claflin scored the first two goals of the game before junior midfielder Bryan Rotatori scored twice to tie it up for the Owls. Senior attack Tyler McKelvie then netted another goal to give the Owls a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Owls went on a 5-0 run with junior attack Tyler Reilly and sophomore midfielder Hunter Arnold both scoring with a man-up. In addition, sophomore attack Frank Bacarella scored to make the game 6-2. In  a man-down situation of their own, the Owls thrived with McKelvie shooting for a goal followed by an unassisted tally from sophomore attack Paul Beling, making the score 8-2 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Owls continued their offensive momentum with goals from Arnold, Reilly and Rotatori. Junior attackman Mac Tetreault scored the Panthers’ first of the half before the Owls struck back with goals from sophomore attack Mitch Hale and Rotatori. With the score 13-4 at the start of the fourth quarter, Arnold and McKelvie both scored again before the Panthers scored five of the last six goals. Both sophomore goalkeeper Mathew Howe and senior goalkeeper Alex Sharp played one half each with Howe starting the first half and Sharp once again finishing in the second half. Howe had two saves in the first while Sharp ended with seven in relief.

The Owls defeated the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs to finish their road trip and advanced their winning streak to seven.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

The KSC men got out to a dominant lead, outscoring the corsairs 8-1 in the first quarter. Rob Hart and Reilly both scored in the first minute just seconds apart. The Corsairs soon responded with a goal from senior attackman Bo Prozinski who scored unassisted. The Owls exploded offensively to finish the quarter with Reilly and McKelvie scoring two goals each, followed by Rotatori and Hart each netting one.

The second quarter began with two goals from McKelvie putting the Owls up 10-1. But the Corsairs rallied, cutting the lead down to 10-6, scoring the last five goals of the half. Prozinski and sophomore attack DJ Miller scored twice with senior midfielder Tyler Prentice scoring a goal as well to complete the run for UMass.         

Beling then reignited the offensive attack for the Owls in the second half as he scored the first goal of the half on his own before dishing an assist to Hart. Prentice struck back with a goal, but Beling erased his tally with another goal of his own.

With the Owls leading 13-7 to begin the fourth quarter, the Owls continued to dominate by scoring the first four goals of the quarter. In the midst of the Owls closing run, Rotatori scored his second of the game with Bacarella scoring one minute after in an unassisted fashion. Hart and Reilly then scored before the Corsairs attempted a rally once again with goals from Prentice and senior attack Steve Merrick.

To finish off the game, Beling and McKelvie scored to complete the offensive effort for the Owls. UMass scored once more to make the final score 19-10, giving the Owls the victory. Howe and Sharp split time once again as Howe finished with six saves in the first half while Sharp finished with four in the second. McKelvie ended as the high-point man for the Owls with five goals and an assist, giving him a total of 13 goals combined in the last two games.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

In Danbury, Connecticut the Keene State College women’s lacrosse team took on the Western Connecticut Colonials in what became a comeback win.

First-year midfielder Samantha Ballard scored the first goal just one minute into the game for the Owls before the Colonials netted back-to-back goals just 30 seconds apart. Sophomore midfielder Taylor Farland responded for KSC with an unassisted goal followed by another pair of goals, this time for the Owls.

With a 4-2 lead, the Owls would let the first half control of the game slip away to the Colonials. In a span of 21 minutes, Western Connecticut scored five unanswered goals before junior midfielder Jenna Bellano tallied a goal for the Owls, making the score 7-5 at the half with the Colonials leading.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

KSC began their comeback in the second half, netting five straight goals in just 11 minutes, with sophomore midfielder Tori Weinstock scoring three of them. With a 10-7 lead, WCSU’s Meaghan Gustafson scored from free position before junior midfielder Raquel Heitor scored an unassisted fashion for the Colonials. With the Owls on the ropes, sophomore midfielder Lindsey Eanniello tied the game at 10-10 with 9:11 remaining in the second half.

With the game coming down to the wire, Ballard scored with under seven minutes left before Bellano put in what was the game winning goal, completing the Owls comeback with a 12-10 win.

Both goalkeepers, junior Alison Argiro and first year Anna O’Brien, played in the contest, ending with three saves each. The Owls outshot the Colonials by a staggering margin of 35-18.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

Last Saturday the Keene State College Men’s lacrosse team came back home to the Owl Athletic Complex to defeat the Western Connecticut Colonials and raise its win streak to three. Sixteen players for the Owls accounted for points as the team opened with an offensive explosion. Junior attack Bryan Rotatori assisted fellow junior attackman Rob Hart and sophomore attack Paul Beling for two goals. Junior midfielder Ryan Askham scored unassisted before Hart assisted sophomore attack Frank Bacarella for a goal.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

Western Connecticut scored its first of two goals in the first half at the 7:45 mark before the Owls went on a run of five unanswered goals, two each coming from Hart and senior attack Tyler McKelvie, with  another from junior attack Tyler Reilly.

In the second, junior midfielder Ethan Cyr scored for KSC in just 70 seconds, followed by first-year midfielder Chris Morgan’s assist that lead to another Bacarella goal. The first half offensive barrage ended for the Owls when sophomore attack Jake Genest assisted fellow sophomore attackmen Jon Nassif and Mitch Hale before Jesse Beatty scored for the Colonials before halftime.

With the score at 13-2, the Owls continued to dominate into the second half. Nassif scored two more goals before Hale scored his second of the contests. Both players scored the only goals of the third quarter. In the fourth, the Colonials attempted to rally back with consecutive goals from Nate Wilson, but the Owls responded. First-year attack Bobby Carey scored his first collegiate goal for the Owls before senior attack Berek Martichuski scored his first two of the season, concluding the game with a 20-7 drumming of the Colonials.

The win increases the Owls’ record to 6-3, making the team’s Little East Conference record 2-0.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

In the world of sports, coaches will often preach to players to worry about only what they can control. The one thing no one can control is Mother Nature, and the weather has proved to be a factor so far this spring sports season.

Last week the Keene State College baseball team had difficulties reacting to the weather when they traveled to Western Connecticut State and were sent home because of a rescheduling due to rain.

Junior catcher Joe Cortese said that, although the team knew it was going to rain, they didn’t know how bad. He said, “We went down and we thought we could get the game in. We ended up getting down there and I think we left around 7 a.m…it had been raining the entire time driving down there. So we finally got there and the field was already bad to begin with, but the field wasn’t in good shape.”

The team said the trip in total took about nine hours. Head Coach Ken Howe said the team drove through about two hours of rain just to get there, but the team was hopeful to play as it was simply misting outside when they got close. As far as preparing for unfortunate weather, Howe joked about all of his experience trying to keep up with the inconsistent New England weather. “I think I have a minor in weather forecasting,” Howe said.

“Mother Nature hasn’t been cooperating that much yet this year,” Howe said.

Howe said the rescheduling came as a disappointment to the ball club, and that inclement weather changes everything as far as things such as pitching rotation and managing rest are concerned.

“Baseball is an adjusting game,” Howe said. “Guys have to be ready and willing to adjust their own personal schedules and class schedules to try to get everything done that they need to do academically as well as on the baseball field.”

George Amaru / Art Director

Fortunately the team was able to make up the game with WCS on Sunday, when the team split with the Colonials in a double header. The game was relocated to the Owls field, making the double header a home series.

Cortese explained the importance of these games as games in the Little East Conference series. He said the LEC games are the most important in all of the sports teams’ schedules.

“The tough thing was that it was an LEC game,” Cortese said. “It’s a conference game; it’s one of the most important ones of the season, and, as it works with the guys in the LEC, you don’t give up the home game because every year it switches. Last year West Conn[ecticut] came to us; this year we go to them, so you don’t really want to give those up because you win those games, you make the playoffs. So those are the ones that count.”

Fortunately, the weather had not plagued the softball team, which was able to play its game against WCSU. The Owls split their games on the road against the Colonials. However, the softball team did deal with a rain delay instead of an entire rescheduling of the game.

Senior outfielder Steph Long said, “It was definitely a challenge to stay focused after a long bus ride and a delay.”

She said that dealing with the wet weather was difficult, but that the team was able to endure by warming up in the gym and staying loose.

According to Long, Head Coach Carrah Fisk Hennessey has a certain mentality toward playing against the elements. “Our coach calls it ‘Flex Ball’ because really you have to be flexible,” Long said.

“Our sport is one that is so easily affected by weather that it’s important to go with it and not let those things affect us,” Long said. “She [Fisk Hennessey] tells us to be aware that in the outfield the ball will skip faster on wet grass, bunts will just stop because the field is softer, especially against a team like Western who bunts a lot. We had to be on our toes and expect anything.”

On the lacrosse field, senior defender Laura Gendreau shared some veteran insight on how Head Coach Katie Arsenault conditions her team for playing in harsh weather.

“From the very start of the season she’s told us to overdress and overpack extra layers,” Gendreau said. “She incorporated jump ropes and a few simple, quick activities to keep our blood flowing while we’re out on the turf.”

Gendreau added that the teams this season have been fortunate with the weather when compared to last season’s.

“Last year we spent our entire preseason inside the gym due to snow and ice, so we really can’t complain,” Gendreau said.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

The Keene State College women’s lacrosse team is off to a difficult start for the 2016 season, opening up with a two game losing streak last week.

On Wednesday, March 2, the Owls faced off against the Emerson College Lions on the road where they began the first half with a 4-1 lead. Senior Kaitlin Nolan netted two goals with help from first-year Samantha Ballard and sophomore Taylor Farland who each added a goal of their own. The Lions would power back to take a 7-6 lead at the end of the first half. Goals from Emerson’s Meredith Weber, Tara Windsor and company would contribute to the Lions first half comeback.

In the second half, the game would remain tightly contested with goals from Emerson seniors Guerin Morissette and Katie Lemire extending their lead, only to be matched by two goals from Farland early in the half. With the score 9-8, the Lions would enhance their lead to 12 with a free position goal from freshman, Emily Quinn.

Luke Stergiou / Senior Photographer

Nolan would respond for the Owls by scoring twice, making the score 12-10. Emerson would begin to run away with the game, scoring five of the next six goals and giving them a seven goal lead. Noland and Ballard would score a goal each with the game out of reach, giving the Lions the 17-13 win. The Lions would end the game with the advantage in shots on goal and ground balls. Junior goalkeeper, Alison Argiro ended her game early with only two saves to be relieved by freshman Anna Obrien who produced six saves of her own.

On Saturday the Owls came back home to face the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers. Nolan put together another four-goal performance for the Owls, threading three of them in the first half with goals from Farland and company to bring the Owls within one, ending the first half at 7-6. Goals from MIT’s Kira Schott, Katie Notarangelo, Nadia Wallace and Cecilia McCormick would produce the Engineers’ lead.

The Owls would rally back to quickly take an 8-7 lead in the second half, with junior Kelly Chadnick who had her first goal in almost a year, and sophomore Tori Weinstock. MIT would swiftly erase the Owls’ lead and never look back with goals from McCormick, sophomore Emily Young and junior Hannah Levy, who would end the game with two assist and three goals. McCormick would lead the Engineers with four goals.

Nolan, Weinstock and junior Jenna Bellano would net goals late in the second half to keep the game close, but it would not be enough to overcome the Engineers as the Owls would lose the contest by a score of 14-12. Owls goalkeeper, Alison Argiro ended the game with a much improved performance from her previous outing at Emerson College with 12 saves against MIT.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

After a season filled with accomplishment, memories and milestones, three members of the Keene State College Women’s basketball program received Little East Conference Awards. Head Coach, Keith Boucher was named LEC Coach of the Year, senior point guard, Kelsey Cognetta was named First Team All-Conference and junior, Stephanie D’Annolfo was named Defensive Player of the Year. Cognetta ended her 2016 season averaging nearly ten points and three assists per game with a 31.9 shooting percentage from the three point line, while D’Annolfo averaged 10.5 points per game and nearly seven rebounds. “It was nice to end the season and my career with something like that,” Cognetta said. When she heard the news, D’Annolfo said she was extremely excited because earning DefensivePlayer of the Year honors was a goal she had set for herself before the season began.

“Personally I was pumped,” D’Annolfo said. “I set that goal because I made the all-defensive team last year…when I heard it I was trying to hold in my excitement.” When asked what helped each of them succeed in earning LEC honors, Cognetta said preparation and their team environment had a great influence. “I think it has a lot to do with the way our practices went and our team dynamic,” Cognetta said. “We pushed each other every single day in practice and everybody worked really hard.”

The 2016 season will always be a memorable one for the KSC women’s basketball program, as the Owls ended their season with more wins than any other women’s basketball team in school history with a record of 24-5. The Owls also earned Coach Boucher his 400th win on their way to winning the ECAC Championship against Western New England.

Both Cognetta and D’Annolfo said Coach Boucher was like a father figure to them and that he has been a major part of their success.

“He’s like a second father to me,” D’Annolfo said. “The school is our home away from home so it’s like he’s our father away from home.”

D’Annolfo added that Boucher has not only made them better basketball players but also, “spends a lot of time making sure we’re better people,” and when, “times are hard, he’s the one we go to.”

As a senior nearing graduation, Cognetta said one thing she will never forget and carry with her when she departs from KSC is Boucher’s “Thought of the Day.” The “Thought of the Day” was a part of the team’s daily routine where Boucher would share words of wisdom to the team for the players to keep with them in the back of their minds. The “Thought of the Day” always had a theme of “working hard and giving it your all,” Cognetta said.

“Now that it’s over I’m thinking that I can do that in other places too.” After hearing word that he had won LEC Coach of the Year, Boucher said that he is not a great believer in individual awards and that his achievement was a team achievement. “No one gets there alone,” Boucher said. “As far as awards go, this one is an affirmation and recognition of all the people in work with.”

When asked about Cognetta and D’Annolfo receiving LEC awards Boucher said they were very much deserved and that they were a pleasure to coach. “Games aren’t won on game day, they’re won on the days before when you prepare to win, and a lot of people don’t get that,” Boucher said.

“This group got that so that made it special.” Boucher said Cognetta understood the importance and that she had a great basketball mind, describing her as a “conduit to which information flowed on the court.” “Selfishly I’d like to have Kelsey back for another year,” Boucher said. He added, “I never saw her raise her hand to come out of a game. You’ve got to tear her off the court.”

On the other end of the floor, Boucher said defensively D’Annolfo played with tremendous effort. “You cannot disguise effort,” Boucher said. “When Steph steps on the court she’s like the energizer bunny, once you wind her up she just goes. It’s constant energy and constant movement, and that’s a very tough thing to do at the pace that she does it.” In retrospect, Boucher said that these individual accomplishments were a result of outstanding team chemistry, extraordinary attitude from players and an endless amount of hard work from assistant coaches and the training staff. He described their achievements as, “Recognition for the program and all the hard work that everybody does that goes into it. So this is more of a team award than it is an individual award.”

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

The Keene State College men’s lacrosse team made an explosive statement, avenging last years’ loss to Western New England University to open the season.

The 2016 season opener was a high flying affair for the owls as they scored 19 goals in their 19-11 home win. Senior captain and attackman, Tyler McKelvie netted the first goal of the game nearly seven minutes into the first period. The opening goal would be the first of four goals for McKelvie. After a responding goal by WNEU, KSC junior midfielder Bryan Rotatori would score his first of five goals before the end of the first period.

Rotatori would go on to factor in on nine of the owls 19 goals with four assists (lead the team). Goals would also come in bunches from sophomore Hunter Arnold (4),  sophomore Frank Bacarella (2), junior Rob Hart (2) and junior Tyler Reilly (2).

The game would reach it’s closest point in the third period, that concluded at a score of 9-12. With the owls lead in jeopardy, crucial defensive play from defensemen juniors Brandon Charney, Thomas Jenoski and senior Michael Wiedenfeld would help seal the win. In his first collegiate start, sophomore goalkeeper Mat Howe would play a large role in the Owls’ defensive successes as well with 13 saves. After the game, Howe said going in he just had to stay calm.

Howe added that his defensive line helped him out with great communication and received great “pointers” from senior captain Alex Sharp on the sidelines, who was not able to start due to injury.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

“The offense picked it up in the fourth quarter and settled us in on defense,” Howe said.

With the opening win in the books, Head Coach Mark Theriault said he was pleased with his team on both ends of the field.

Going in Theriault recognized that the Golden Bears were “one of the top teams in New England” and said that it was important that his team play teams like them in order to be considered among the upper echelon in Division 3.

Theriault said they had a “bad taste” in their mouths from last seasons’ loss to the golden bears, and were excited to get the win.

The game’s leading scorer, Rotatori, described the Owls’ offense as a “free range” offense that takes what the defense gives them. Going into the game, Rotatori said a lot of his teammates were nervous but were extremely confident in their scoring ability since the Owls were ranked third in Division 3 in scoring just a year ago.

Moving forward, Rotatori said, “Now we have to forget this game, we made a mark. This team was ranked above us…we weren’t ranked in the top 30. Now we have to move on to RPI who’s also ranked in the top 30 above us.”

The Owls will continue their home stand playing RPI Saturday at 1:00 pm.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

The two-time Little East Conference Champion Keene State Men’s Lacrosse team look to solidify themselves as a force in the region and beyond with hopes of a third consecutive championship.

Coming off of a 12-5 season, going undefeated in conference play and establishing a dominant home record of 7-1, the Owls face high expectations along with a difficult schedule.

In preparation for these challenges ahead, six-time LEC Coach of the year and Keene State Men’s Head Lacrosse Coach Mark Theriault said his team is doing a good job getting ready and taking advantage of time to practice.

“With the weather being mostly cooperative,” Theriault said, “We’ve been able to go out and get a lot of things done in preseason.”

Although the snow hasn’t kept the Owls off the practice field, they have been forced to endure the below zero temperatures that have cast a frigid shroud over the town of Keene, battle testing the team for the elements.

With two-time National Champion Tufts among the group of nationally ranked teams on the Owls’ schedule, Theriault listed having a returning and experienced group of offensive players as one of the team’s greatest strengths to combat the stiff competition.

“Offensively we have a solid core with the same group mostly from last year and they’ve been playing together for three years,” Theriault said.

Theriault said having played together for some time, his offensive group has greater chemistry and have learned to play with more consistency. Senior attackman and captain Tyler McKelvie will lead the charge offensively for the Owls, along with a productive cast of goal scorers including junior attackman Rob Hart, junior attackman Brian Rotatori and sophomore attackman Hunter Arnold.

McKelvie said the team as a whole has “worked on getting stronger and getting in better shape along with getting our stick skills better and playing as much as we can,” in preseason preparation.

Senior leadership will be important for the Owls, both offensively and defensively, as senior goalie and captain Alex Sharp is likely to step back in net. After a productive first-year season, Sharp has had split playing time during his sophomore and junior campaigns, and looks to leave no doubt to start his senior year.

“I definitely, as a senior, want to be a good leader and lead by example,” Sharp said, “I think all of the seniors want to do that and have a definite role in that. “

Sharp also said he looks to “solidify” himself as the starting goalie after having competed in the past for playing time with former division one transfer Dylan Florian.

Sharp said the team has always had “good competition in practice, and we like to feed off each other and make each other better.”

The competitive nature Sharp mentioned has originated from Coach Theriault’s mentality of strictly playing the best players possible “regardless of class,” Theriault said.

Sharp said his coach will start the best player, “Whether it’s a freshman walk-on or a senior who’s put his heart and soul in the program for four years. He’ll start whoever it is.”

Along with the competitive nature of his team, Theriault said team building opportunities, such as the Florida trip the team takes every off season, has been a big part of their success, and described himself as a “players coach.”

“We need to work hard,” Theriault said, “But at the same time we need to make sure we’re having a good time.”

Theriault also said that the balance of both working hard and enjoying the experience will inspire players more.

“If the players want to play for you and they want to work hard for you then I feel that the results will be a lot better,” Theriault said.

Although players of all classes are likely to play a role and are important, Theriault also discussed the importance of experience in leadership, which the Owls should have in spades with 19 returning upper classmen and nine of them being seniors.

“I always put the onus on them [captains] and the other seniors because it is their last year and their last opportunity to have a great experience,” Theriault said, “Since we’re shooting to win the LEC for the third time, we have expectations and they [seniors] take the reigns on that.”

When asked what a third LEC title would mean to the team, Theriault said, “It’s where we want to go as a program.”

But even beyond winning in conference, both captains McKelvie and Sharp said they’re team has aspirations of becoming more successful out of conference as well.

McKelvie described the nature of their out of conference games when they play nationally ranked opponents, and said, “When we play out of conference, we are the ones trying to make a statement because we are usually considered the underdogs.”

Sharp added, “We always strive to win the LEC Championship, but I think it’s time we do something past that.”

The KSC men’s team will look to avenge their loss to the Western New England University from just a year ago, as the Owls will open up their season against the Golden Bears next week on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at home.

Nick can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

As the Keene State College Women’s Lacrosse team enters the 2016 season as defending Little East Conference Champions, the Owls look to defend the title with greater expectations.

Owls Head Coach Katie Arsenault said that although the team won the majority of  conference games last season (5-1), they are not taking any opponents lightly this season.

“It’s not like anything was handed to us,” Arsenault said, as the Owls margin of victory in four of their six conference games last season came from two goals or less.

With a new mind-set and an emphasis on improving from a season ago, Arsenault said, “We know we have a bullseye on our back. We finished well last year, but I think we’ve set a higher standard for ourselves so we’re just looking to meet that more so than anything else.”

Arsenault has had an impressive tenure at the helm with three LEC Tournament Championships and two LEC Regular Season Championships. She also said she wants her team to improve by winning not only its in-conference games, but it’s out-of-conference games as well. The Owls opened up to a 0-8 losing streak last season and Arsenault said her team looks to get out to a much faster start as well.

Senior and captain Kaitlin Nolan said, “We had a rough start to our season last year and we were really the underdogs. I think this year, coming off of a conference win is huge, and it’s motivation for us to want to get there again, but we have our own goals set that we want to accomplish in and out of conference.”

Arsenault and Nolan both said last year was somewhat of a transitional year where players were still getting used to playing together as the team only had two seniors. This season, though, the Owls seem to have a much more experienced group with 13 returning upperclassmen, including Nolan, who had 46 goals last season and accounted for 65 points for the Owls.

Fellow senior and defensive player Natalie Barnett said Coach Arsenault has stressed to the team to remain humble and prepare for the new challenges to come this season.

Barnett said, “Just because we’re returning LEC Champions doesn’t mean we’re not going to work just as hard to get to where we were last year if not harder.”

When asked what another LEC Championship would mean to the senior class, Nolan quickly said, “Everything.”

“This really is it,” Nolan said. “You play for your team, you play for yourself, you play for your coach and you play for everyone who has gotten you this far…It would mean a lot to go out on top.”

But Nolan and Barnett said they have also made efforts to incorporate the underclassmen as well and know how important the entire team being involved is to success.

Barnett said, “I really feel like we’ve done a lot to incorporate the freshmen with what we do whether that’s in practice or out of practice.”

Barnett also said that things such as team bonding off the field and positive encouragement on the field keep them together as a unit.

“We have each other’s backs,” Barnett said.

Nolan said, “We’ve come together pretty easily and the chemistry is always just there.”

When asked what makes this 2016 women’s team unique from other squads she has coached in the past, Arsenault said their mentality separated them from the pack.

“This years’ group has a different mental game to themselves,” Arsenault said. “They just don’t compare themselves, they just know they need to go out and play and they need to play hard.”

Arsenault described how off-season preparation has been for the squad and said her team “has been on board since day one”

“We’re going to have some bumps without a doubt, but this group is definitely different, it’s more focused,” Arsenault said. “They have a good time, they have fun but they are just a more competitive and mentally strong team.”

Along with the many adjustments and challenges any sports team will face over the course of a season, the Owls will have to adjust to a new set of rules. The NCAA is set to enforce new rules regarding pace of play and making the game faster for both the women’s and men’s lacrosse seasons in 2016. Although the rules themselves were not specified, Arsenault said her team should adjust well to the new rules because of their team speed.

“The speed of the game will be a lot faster now which will be more entertaining,” Arsenault said.

The Owls will play their season opener on Tuesday, March 2, at Emerson College.

Nick can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

The result of Super Bowl 50 will change the way professional football is played for years to come. The cliché analysts and pundits surrounding the NFL like to echo more than any other is that the NFL is a “copycat” league.

This saying is repeated so often because it is indeed true. Every year the Super Bowl champion is dissected and analyzed, as every team wants to find, in the words of DJ Khaled, the key to success.

The predominant trait about that particular team that lead them to raising the coveted Lombardi Trophy.

The Carolina Panthers are the current odds on favorites to beat the Denver Broncos on Super Sunday, with the Las Vegas point spread at 4.5 with the chance of rising.

What makes the 2015-2016 Carolina Panthers special is that they have gone against the grain from a stylistic perspective.

In a league filled with high flying passing offenses demanding quarterbacks to throw the ball more than 40 times a game, coupled with so-called ‘bend but don’t break’ defenses, the Panthers have been the opposite.

The Panthers dabbed their way through the league, earning a dominating 15-1 record, led by phenomenal MVP candidate quarterback Cam Newton.

Newton had 35 touchdowns, 3,837 passing yards, with 636 rushing yards and the lowest interception total of his flourishing career (10 interceptions). “Super Cam” has also proved he can get it done in the playoffs, as this post-season he’s completed 35/50 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception.

But Newton has not had to do it all on his own. Newton has had a solid core of targets to throw to, whom have stepped all season long with pro-bowl tight end Greg Olsen, speedy wide-receiver Ted Ginn, and rookie wide-receiver Devin Funchess among the group.

On the ground, the Panthers have lived up to their motto “Keep Pounding” as they finished the season ranked second in team rushing yards per game (142.6) and have led the post-season in rushing behind their dynamic running back Jonathan Stewart (post-season best 189 rushing yards).

Although many teams around the league have gone away from the running game, the Panthers may remind the world that commitment to running the ball is still crucial as 35 of the last 49 Super Bowl winning teams have finished the season ranked in the top ten in rushing yards per game.

Carolina has also been stout defensively as they finished the regular season fourth in rushing defense (88.4 yards allowed) and have owned the ever so important turnover battle.

Among the top five players in post-season interceptions, three of them are Panthers. Safety Kurt Coleman (2), Safety Tre Boston (1) and all-pro linebacker Luke Kuechly (2). The Panthers are also responsible for four touchdowns in the 2015-2016 playoffs explaining their +8 turnover differential.

Don’t get me wrong, the Denver Broncos have been no slouch on defense.

As a matter of fact, they’ve been better. With a feared pass rushing duo in Von Miller and Demarcus Ware, backed by a pro-bowl tandem of cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, the Broncos finished the regular season ranked number one in total defense.

Also, to combat the Panthers explosive running game, the Broncos have the second ranked post-season run-defense (64.5 yards allowed), just ahead of the panthers third ranked run-defense (69 yards allowed).

So, if this year’s Super Bowl comes to a tightly contested defensive stand-still, the game will come down to the play of both teams’ quarterbacks.

The former Super Bowl champion, multiple time league MVP, future first ballot hall-of-famer and quarterback of the Broncos Peyton Manning will have to play out of his large forehead to take home another Lombardi Trophy.

This post-season, Manning has yet to throw the ball more than 40 times and has also failed to eclipse 300 yards passing.

At the same time Manning had two touchdowns against the Patriots in the AFC championship game and hasn’t thrown an interception in the entire post-season, as Head Coach Gary Kubiak has clearly tried to make the 39-year-old Manning’s job easier with a commitment to running the ball and the short passing game.

But I believe what Peyton Manning and his offense lacks is what will spell doom for the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, and that is big play ability, which the Carolina Panthers have by the truck load.

With the Broncos having played so conservatively on offense this post-season, I feel the Carolina Panthers reign of dominance will only continue.

Having a dual-threat quarterback the caliber of Cam Newton, in addition to a ferocious defense that creates turnovers, the Panthers will over match the Denver Broncos to win Super Bowl 50 and deliver the Carolina Panthers their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.

Nick can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com