In a rematch of last year’s first round game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III tournament, the Keene State women’s lacrosse team beat Castleton, 16-13.

Head Coach Katie Arsenault earned her 100th career win.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

Junior Taylor Farland tallied a game-high of six goals and two assists for a career-high of eight points.

Sophomore Chelsea Lewis and senior Taylor Graf made a hat-trick, while Lewis added a helper.

The Spartans came out fast, shooting the first goal of the game in the first minute right before they extended their lead by two after converting a free position opportunity with 28 remaining minutes.

Despite the Spartans early lead to two, the Owls fired back with five unanswered goals.

Back-to-back free position shots from Farland and first-year Tess Masci to even the score at two apiece and capped with a goal from senior Kelly Chadnick off a pass from Gabby Smith, giving Keene State a 5-2 advantage.

Castleton cut the deficit to two, but Farland responded firing a shot to the back of the goal. Lewis added another one for the Owls, bringing the score to 7-3.

Castleton put back the final goal of the half, leaving the score 7-4, Keene State at halftime.

The second half opened up with goals from both Graf and Farland to push Keene State further in the lead, but Castleton found the net four times. Keene State was up by one, 10-9.

The Owls regained a three-point lead when Graf put back a free position pass from Farland and Lewis scored an unassisted goal.

The Spartans put forth another three goals to tie the score at 12.

After back-and-forth play, Farland scored the last and final two goals of the game, leaving Keene State on top 14-12.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

Fourteen different Owls found the back of the net as Keene State demolished Salem State University at the Owl Athletic Complex on April 8. The Owls continued their three-game winning streak, 22-2.

Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor

Senior Tyler Reilly scored a game high of three goals, while six other Owls netted two goals each. Senior Curt Serafini added two goals and two assists, while junior Mitch Hale added one goal and three assists.

Keene State jumped out with an early lead 3-0 just after the first five minutes of the game. Goals came from Reilly, junior Paul Beling and junior Hunter Arnold. Salem State scored with 9:04 left in the first quarter, as Max Trifone connected with his brother Michael Trifone, but the Owls quickly ignited with eight unanswered goals to end the first quarter. The Owls gained a double digit lead, 11-1.

Salem State was too far in and was unable to come back in the game as the Owls continued to shoot. Keene State’s offense scored 22 goals by the end of the fourth quarter.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

Game 1

Senior pitcher Michael Crimi came out strong, giving the Keene State baseball team a split of a Little East Conference (LEC) doubleheader against Rhode Island College. The Owls claimed the win 11-1 before falling to RIC 9-8 in 12 innings in the days game.

Every Keene State player who started had at least one hit, including a number of 3-for-4 games from John Tarascio, Connor Longley, Connor Walsh, Devin Springfield and Zach Rollins.

Walsh finished with three RBIs, while Springfield and Tom Meucci both had two runs each.

Contributing photo/ KSC Baseball

Crimi stuck out seven in seven innings, allowing four hits and one earned run to improve to 3-0.

Keene State took a 2-0 lead in the first when Nate Rossi reached on a dropped fly by RIC and moved to third on a wild pitch and a single from Longley. Walsh’s double out left-center brought Rossi home and Christian Bourgea hit a fly to center to bring Longley home as well.

RIC finally ended the shutout in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Barry walked and scored on a sacrifice fly from Mike Webb.

Longley got another run with a sacrifice fly to center in the fifth. Two more came around in the sixth due to an error from RIC and an RBI from Springfield.

The Owls scored six times in the seventh inning for an 11-1 lead. Walsh had a pair of runs and Meucci tripled home two more. Crimi retired the final 10 batters of the game, including setting RIC down in order to end the game in mercy rule.

Game 2

Keene State scored six times in the either to force extra innings, but RIC got the walk-off hits in the bottom of the 12th, claiming the win. Rollins was 3-for-6 with four RBIs, while Longley, Walsh and Springfield each had two more hits.

The Owls, again, grabbed the first run of the game when Springfield walked, stole second and came around on Rollins’ single to left field. RIC went in front of the bottom of the third inning with a two-run double.

RIC added to their lead in the sixth with a RBI singles, taking the advantage off of another KSC error to make it 5-1.

Mac Struthers reached on an error to open the seventh and eventually score on a single to center field from Walsh. RIC made it 7-2 when they landed a two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the inning. RIC added another RBI single to make it 8-2.

In the top of the eighth, Springfield and Meucci singled to set Rollins up, who clubbed his first career home run over the fence in the left center for a three-run shot, bringing the game to 8-5.

Michael Webb moved from third to the mound, but began by walking Struthers, and an error allowed Rossi to reach home. Walsh stuck a single to left field to bring home Struthers and another error from RIC allowed Longley to score.

Springfield beat out an infield hit to shortstop that allowed pinch runner Sam Czel to come home, tying the score at eight.

Rollins singled and stole second to open the ninth. RIC singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Tim Coppinger got Webb to ground into a 1-6-3 double-play to send the game into extra innings.

In the 11th, Meucci drew a one-out walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Rollins flew out to right field and Struthers popped up to short to leave him stuck on second.

Coppinger, again, got Webb to fly out to center with the winning run on third, but RIC won the game in the 12th when they hit a lead-off single and scored on Nate Donovan’s double to right.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

Trinity College took a 16-2 win over Keene State College in a non-conference game Tuesday March 28.

The Owls grabbed an early lead in the second inning when Connor Walsh doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Devin Springfields’ sacrifice fly.

After Tom Meucci walked, Zach Rollins tripled to bring him all the way home.

Trinity batted in the bottom of the third, getting a 2-RBI hit and taking advantage of a pair of KSC errors to score six times in the inning. Trinity added three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings and scored four more times in the top of the seventh.

Rollins and John Tarascio both had two hits for the Owls, while Nate Rossi and Walsh both had one.

Keene State started Alan Schiff (0-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) in 3.1 innings of work. While, Tim Coppinger, Nate Pedersen, Brian Vieira, Evan McGregor and Noah Rizio all saw time out of the bullpen.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

Westfield State University

Junior Taylor Farland led the Keene State College (KSC) women’s lacrosse team to victory as she had her career-high on Tuesday, March 28 at the Owl Athletic Complex. The Owls picked up the first win of the season over Westfield State, 14-8.

Westfield scored and was the first team to get points up on the board with an unassisted goal from Sam Coyle. First-year Gabby Smith quickly reacted with a wrap around goal for KSC with 22:32 left in the first half. Farland gave KSC a one-point advantage when she found the back of the net just three minutes later.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

Westfield’s Marissa Nimeskern connected a pass from Alexa Tonelli to even the score. Farland converted back-to-back free position chances to give the Owls a two-point lead, right before KSC first-year Tess Masci put away a bobble in the box. Smith sent the ball to sophomore Chelsea Lewis who shot the ball to the back of the net, increasing Keene State’s lead by four, 6-2. Westfield cut the lead to three when Coyle shot past KSC in the last minute of the half. As the two teams went into the break, Keene State remained on top 6-3.

Back-and-forth goals opened up the second half of the game with Keene State maintaining a three-point lead, bringing the score to 9-6.

Smith found the back of the net that lit up KSC’s offense. Keene State had a 5-0 run with three  from Lewis, pushing Keene State’s lead to eight. Westfield scored twice in the final minute of the game for a final score of 14-8, KSC.

Western Connecticut State University

The Keene State women’s lacrosse team coasted to a Little East Conference (LEC) victory over Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, April 1 at the Owl Athletic Complex.

Both teams were tied at one for the opening 10 minutes of the game. KSC grabbed a two-point advantage after senior Taylor Graf found the net with an assist from junior Taylor Farland. Junior Tori Weinstock scored her first goal of the game off a pass from first-year Gabby Smith. The Colonials quickly reacted with a goal from Lauren Bradshaw to get them within one.

Keene State shot back-to-back goals from Graf and sophomore Chelsea Lewis to extend the KSC lead to three with 5:51 left on the clock. Western struck in the final seconds, leaving Keene State in the lead by two at the half.

Western came out scoring the first goal of the second half, right before Keene State ignited a 4-1 run with a hat-trick from Farland and a goal from senior Kelly Chadnick to maintain their lead 9-5, KSC.

Western scored another goal, getting them close before Keene State had three unanswered goals from Weinstock, Farland and Chadnick, giving the Owls their greatest advantage, 12-6 with 7:19 left in the game.

Western would only shoot one more free position goal from Amber Andrews, as Farland scored the final goal to seal the win for the Keene State Owls.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at Ssiava@kscequinox.com

Colby College

 Senior Tyler Reilly led the Keene State men’s lacrosse team with five goals and one assist in a win against Colby College, 17-10 on March 29 at the Owl Athletic Complex.

Keene State gained an early lead as senior Bryan Rotatori connected with Reilly for the first goal of the game. Colby College responded quickly, finding the back of the net themselves.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

Both teams went back and forth with goals to finish the quarter, but the Owls remained on top 3-2 at the end of one.

Colby College received the first goal of the second half to tie the score at three before Keene State netted three goals in under 30 seconds to maintain their lead with 11 minutes left on the clock.

Colby, with back-to-back goals, brought them within one, but Rotatori passed the ball up to senior Robert Hart and junior Jon Nassif to connect with junior Hunter Arnold to close out the quarter and bring the Owls back to their three-point lead going into the half.

The Owls pushed their advantage into double digits between the third and fourth quarters by scoring seven goals. First-year Anthony Marcella shot a goal with 11:22 left in the game.

Colby outscored Keene State 5-2 in the last minutes, but the Owls took home the victory 17-10. “It was a big win for the team. We took 71 shots the week before against Bates and they just didn’t fall, so we knew we had to just focus on our finishing and we would be all set. We got great play out of our second line of midfielders Jake Genest, David Wiedenfeld and Anthony Marcella and I think their contributions kept the offense fresh and dynamic,” Reilly said.

UMass Dartmouth

The Keene State Owls men’s lacrosse team was led by seniors Robert Hart and Tyler Reilly with both five goals each against UMass Dartmouth on April 3. The Owls excelled passed the Corsairs 19-10.

UMass Dartmouth was the first to get on the board with back-to-back goals with 12:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Keene State fired a 4-0 run. Senior Bryan Rotatori started the run and grabbed a 4-2 lead.

UMass Dartmouth would only gain one more goal in the quarter, but the Owls maintained their two-point advantage at the end of the first. Hart found the net off of a pass from first-year David Wiedenfeld to bring the score to 5-3.

The Owls continued to widen their lead in the beginning of the second, the first four goals would be Keene State goals from Rotatori, Reilly, junior Hunter Arnold and junior Jon Nassif for a six-point lead.

UMass Dartmouth answered with a goal from Jordan Torres with 6:24 to go.

Back-to-back goals from both teams ended the second quarter, with the Owls holding their 10-5 lead at the half.

UMass Dartmouth would only come as close to four in the last half of the game, but KSC extended their lead to double-digits in the fourth quarter. A final goal from Reilly gave the owls a 19-9 advantage and their biggest lead of the game.

Keene State will continue LEC play when the Owls host Salem State on Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

The Keene State College women’s lacrosse team was forced to clear snow off the fields themselves in order to play their rescheduled game against Wheaton College on March 25.

Before the game, athletes, parents and students joined the women on the field to help them shovel the snow off before the game could start.  A lack of communication was to blame for the athletes having to plow the fields before they could play.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

Parents, staff and other student-athletes accompanied the Owls on the field to clear the snow off as quickly as possible, while Wheaton sat back and watched.

“No one is to blame,” Athletic Director Dr. Kristene Kelly said. “What happened was that particular game was a reschedule from a game that was scheduled before, and even though we make all of our changes on our website, there was a miscommunication between our ground folks not knowing there was a game because had they known, they would’ve been out there to do it.”

Junior midfielder Taylor Farland said it wasn’t the “ideal situation,” but they made the best of it.  “It was very sticky snow so it just covered the field really fast and this was already a game that was rescheduled so we didn’t want to have to go back and schedule it again or cancel it,” Farland said.

She continued, “We all just started grabbing shovels and started to clear the fields and it was fun; it was fun for the time we did it, I just wish it wasn’t the day of a game. It was tiring because it was the entire field that we had to clear, but some parents came and helped, a few guys on the lacrosse team came, Kristine Kelly was actually there helping us shovel, our coaches were shoveling and it probably took us two hours to get the field pretty much cleared off.”

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

The Owls were determined to play the game against Wheaton College and did everything they could to keep the game on. “Our student-athletes took matters into their own hands and said, ‘We really want to play,  we’re going to go out here and do this,’ and that’s basically what happened. I apologized to all of our student-athletes because I definitely did not want them out there doing that, especially given the fact that they’re getting ready to play. That is not their job to take care of the fields,” Kelly said.

The Owls grabbed anything in sight that they thought could help clear the field.

“We were going to just take whatever we could find; we had chairs, we had hurdles from underneath the bleachers, we had a table at one point [and] we were just doing whatever we could to clear the field,” Farland said.

Farland said she doesn’t think that this “miscommunication” will ever happen again. “Shoveling was definitely not something we planned on doing before a game and not something that will ever happen again because it’s never happened in the past,” Farland said.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

Kelly confirmed that there would be a plan in place for the next time weather is an issue.

“I have already been in contact with our grounds crew, so we have a contingency plan in place. So every Monday from here on out we’re going to let them know all of our games for the week because of course with spring sports, there’s all kinds of inclement weather and all types of changes,” Kelly said.

After the fields were completely cleared off, the Owls were finally able to tip off against Wheaton College. The Owls took a loss they thought they wouldn’t.

“I think that we went in with the mindset of, ‘This game has to be ours. We just shoveled that field for a reason and we’re not going to come out with a loss,’ so in our minds, we had it and thought we were going to do well. We were winning at halftime, we were positive and staying up, but I don’t know if just being at halftime slowed us down a little or what it was,” Farland said.

She continued, “The other team played really well. They had things that we couldn’t capitalize on and their defense did a really good job at stopping our drives and feeds so it was tough, but I don’t know if it would change the outcome of the game. It would’ve been nicer if we weren’t all as drained after it. It would’ve been nice to have all that energy, but I don’t know if it would have changed the outcome.”

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

Keene State College (KSC) junior Melissa Wydra wasn’t going to let Tommy John surgery end her career of being a student-athlete.

About seven months ago, Wydra tore her UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament).

Jake Paquin/ Equinox Staff

Wydra is a thrower on the track and field team. She throws javelin, discus, hammer, shot put and she throws weights only during the indoor season. She has scored the top five in the Little East Conference (LEC) every year. She was born and raised in Enfield, Connecticut. She started her career when she was in sixth grade, but javelin was her main concentration, starting her junior year of high school. Her junior and senior year, she won big conference meets and she won the state championship her senior year.

Tommy John surgery is a surgical operation in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body (often from the forearm, hamstring or foot of the patient). The procedure was developed by Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974 for pitcher Tommy John, for whom the surgery is named.

Last year in the first weekend of April is when she got injured during a meet. “I felt a pain that I never felt before. My arm swelled to the size of a tennis ball around my elbow and it was just throbbing. My hand and forearm went completely numb,” Wydra said.

Jake Paquin/ Equinox Staff

She first went to a surgeon, who told her she needed the Tommy John surgery. Just for a second opinion, she went to another surgeon. This surgeon recommended physical therapy, but after three months of physical therapy with no change, she had to get surgery.

Wydra got the Tommy John surgery in the first weekend of September.

“I was apprehensive about the surgery at first. That’s why I went and got a second opinion and saw pictures of people who’ve gone through the surgery. Even though there’s more positives than negatives, I always put myself in the negative category,”Wydra said.

Wydra’s teammate Alex Magoon, who is also a thrower for  KSC, met her when he was a sophomore and Wydra was a first-year joining the team.

When describing Wydra, he said, “She is a positive influence on everyone on the team. She also is always willing to help a teammate in need and put herself second if it means bettering someone else’s performance,” said Magoon. Even with her being injured, Magoon explained that she still comes to the meets post-injury for team support and he said it means a lot.

The average recovery time from the surgery is eight to 10 months, but Wydra is on her seventh month and she’s already back on the field practicing. “The hardest part for me was realizing that I couldn’t throw at 100 percent and that I wasn’t going to be PR-ing every throw like I used to. Taking it slow and staying focused and hoping that I could continue to contribute to the success of the team has been my main goal. Keeping my new elbow healthy, while also understanding that I’m fixed now has been a big mental challenge for me that my coaches and teammates have really helped me through,” Wydra said.

After Wydra went through with the surgery, she explained it was a learning experience for her. “It was more of a learning experience for me because I want to be surgeon one day. They answered so many questions for me and let me watch a lot,” she said. She now goes to physical therapy with the athletic trainers here and she’s in there only twice a week now. “They’ve been absolutely amazing,” Wydra said.

Head cross country and track and field coach Tom Pickering did not respond to multiple requests to comment.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com 

Adriana Sanchez can be contacted at asanchez@kscequinox.com

Sweet 16 

The Keene State Owls traveled to Babson College for their rematch against Christopher Newport University (CNU). However, the Owls did not have the same outcome as they did last year. The Owls trumped CNU 68-64 Friday, March 10.

Senior Jeffrey Lunn led the Owls with 20 points and eight rebounds. Fellow senior Matthew Ozzella had 14 points, senior Lucas Hammel had 15 and sophomore Ty Nichols had 11.

CNU had the upper hand early on. Marcus Carter, the junior All-American, sank a three for a 9-3 lead. Christopher Newport sank another three to increase their lead, 14-7.

Keene State kept up with CNU, getting within four, when Ozzella converted a three-point play with only 10 minutes remaining on the clock. Christopher Newport responded quickly and kept their lead 21-12.

Ozzella hit a pair of threes in two minutes. He also added a layup in-between, tying the game at 24. Christopher Newport had a 12-4 run over the remaining time in the half, giving them an eight-point lead.

Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor

CNU hit a fadeaway three to beat the shot clock, and Justin Hampton of CNU hit away Nichols’ layup at the sound of the buzzer with CNU on top 45-33.

Nichols converted a three-point play with 18 minutes left in the second half. CNU continued their lead with three baskets.

Keene State was able to get within five on Jimmy Layman’s jumper. CNU had an offensive foul against the Owls and Hammel stepped up to the line.

Hammel made both of the baskets and brought the Owls within three points. Jaquel Edwards made a basket with 10:43 left to bring the game within one.

Lunn hit two free throws with 9:46 left on the clock, giving the Owls their first lead of the entire game.

After that set of free throws, the game went cold, and there were no points scored until the 7:29 mark on the clock. Christopher Newport missed six straight free throws.

Lunn made two more free throws with 4:49 left on the clock. CNU answered quickly with a three from the right corner and tied the game at 58 with 4:30 left on the clock.

The Owls and the Captains went back and forth, but CNU was on top by one. Lunn managed to bring the Owls back on top, 62-62. Nichols made a basket with 31 seconds left for a 64-61 lead.

Hammel sank a pair of free throws, which put KSC up by five.

CNU missed a three, but grabbed a rebound and hit a fadeaway triple to cut the lead 66-64 with six seconds left on the clock. Nichols hit two free throws, securing the Owls’ win.

The Owls advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004.

Elite Eight

The first half of the game was a constant back and forth battle between Keene State and Babson College. Both teams tied up the game at least five times.

With 6:22 left on the clock, the Babson Beavers received their biggest lead of the game with a 10-point advantage, 38-28, Babson.

Lunn grabbed back-to-back baskets, bringing the Owls within five.

Nichols converted a three-point play with .53 left on the clock shortening Babson’s lead to two. Babson responded with a three right before the sound of the buzzer at the half. Babson was up 51-46.

The Owls would only come as close as seven in the second half, 69-62, after a layup from Lunn. Babson ignited an 18-4 run to pull away from the Owls.

The Owls got no closer than 17 points the rest of the game. Nichols sank a three with 3:10 left to go.

Nichols led the Owls with 21 points, while Lunn had 14 points and six rebounds. Hammel chipped in  17 points and Ozzella had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Ozzella became the fifth player in school history to have over 1,200 points and 700 rebounds in his career, joining Tyler Kathan, Dave Terry, Al Hicks and Chris Coates.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com