On Saturday, Jan. 21, the Keene State men’s basketball team took on UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference (LEC play, defeating the Corsairs in the final seconds from a tip-in by junior Dizel Wright to give the Owls the lead in their 90-86 win).

The Owls received an overall scoring performance from sophomore Ty Nichols with 23 points,  six rebounds and six assists.

As Nichols was the Owl’s leading scorer, senior Matthew Ozzella contributed with his ninth double-double this season with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Senior Lucas Hammel added 14 points, and junior Jaquel Edwards added 11 points. Senior Jeffrey Lunn, who missed 10 games this season due to an injury, went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and had 15 points off the bench.

The men’s basketball team got off to a slow start, as Nichols made a three-pointer to take a 6-4 lead over the Corsairs.

Jacob Paquin / Equinox Staff

Shortly after, the Owls fell behind when Umass Dartmouth’s Joshua Imadiyi scored to take a 15-9 lead in the early minutes of the first half. UMass Dartmouth continued to score on the Owls with just under 10 minutes in the first half.

The Owls responded to the Corsairs by taking a 17-4 run with a top of the key three-pointer by Hammel with under five minutes remaining in the first half.

First-year Jake Collagan came into the game, taking a three-point jumper off the backboard that would go in with only seconds remaining, giving the Owls a 44-40 lead at halftime.

The Owls remained in the lead over the Corsairs in the opening of the second half, as Ozzella drained another three-pointer and an additional basket in the paint on the very next possession that would give the Owls their 54-48 lead five minutes into the second half.

Ozzella continued to score as he had a putback on Nichols’ miss at the 10-minute mark, giving the Owls a comfortable 10-point lead. The Owls encountered trouble on defense as the Corsairs took a 13-2 run over Keene State killing clock time and proceeding to take a 65-64 lead.

In the final minutes of the game, the Owls and Corsairs went back-and-forth, but Edwards went  to the free-throw line, sinking both free throws for a 70-67 lead.

It would next be the Corsairs turn as they scored six points and took back the lead from the Owls with almost seven minutes left. Hammel came down on the next possession and sunk a three, but UMass  scored and went to the free-throw line, making two more points and taking a four-point lead with only five minutes remaining.

In the final stretch, UMass Dartmouth’s Imadiyi and Josh Nelson continued to score with jump shots on the Owl’s defense, leading 84-81 with 2:30 minutes left in the final half.

Nichols stepped up and took charge of the Owl’s offense, extending his 20-point game, as well as reaching 20 points for the seventh time this season. Nichols went to the free-throw line, keeping the Owls within one point and next completing a three-point play to give the Owls a 86-84 lead with only one minute to play.

UMass Dartmouth’s Nelson tied the game once again for the last time with two successful free throws from the line with seconds remaining. The Owls went to their hot hand of the night, Nichols, who missed a layup with 30 seconds remaining, but Wright rebounded and tipped the ball back in off Nichols’ miss.

The Corsairs remained to fight back, but fell short off a missed shot. KSC’s Lunn contributed two more free throws to make it a two-possession game. UMass Dartmouth ran out of time, and the Owls held onto the win.

The Owls will now continue their season with a 12-5 record and 5-2 record in LEC play. Keene State is tied for second place with Umass Dartmouth, both 5-2 in the LEC.

Keene State will play home in the Spaulding Gymnasium on Jan. 25 against Eastern Connecticut State University. Tip off begins at 7:30 p.m..

Travis Thuotte can be contacted at tthuotte@kscequinox.com

On Wednesday, Nov. 30, the Keene State men’s basketball team took on Trinity College, making a close game, but after clutch moments from senior Lucas Hammel, the Owls advanced to yet another win and added to their undefeated season.

In the opening tip-off, the Trinity College Bantams took an early lead until KSC senior Matt Ozzella knocked down a three-pointer.

The Bantams scored once again and trailed by only a few buckets. Sophomore Ty Nichols missed a shot put up, but Hammel rebounded and scored on Nichols’ miss.

The Bantams worked their deficit to only a bucket when Trinity College student Eric Gendron’s jumper went in.

The Owls went on a 13-3 run with three-pointers from Hammel and first-year Damonte Turner. Turner made another three-pointer after being set up from outside to make a 37-22 lead, with only a few minutes left in the first half.

Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor

Junior Dizel Wright continued the scoring for the Owls by completing a three-point play with just four minutes in the half.

The Owls went  into the half with a 44-32 lead after the Owls’ first-year Jake Collagan and the Bantams’ Eric Gendron both made free throws in the final seconds.

At the start of the second half, the Bantams went down the court four times, missing each shot and an opportunity to make a comeback on the Owls.

Turner fed first-year Deonte Vinson for a layup just four minutes into the half.

Trinity College inched their way back into the game by cutting the lead down to eight points, giving the Owls a 53-45 lead over the Bantams.

The Bantams scored with Langdon Neal and Nick Seretta, each making layups to cut down the lead. In the 10th minute of the second half, the Bantams scored again, cutting the Owls lead to six (57-51 Owls).

In the 12th minute, Trinity College’s Gendron drained a three-pointer, cutting the lead to only two points until senior Jaquel Edwards drove the lane through defenders, scoring to make a four-point differential.

Ozzella went down to score on a pass to him on the right elbow, making the Owls lead 62-57.

The Owls’ power through the second half took multiple possessions on offense and went on an 8-2 run. T

he run led from baskets made by Ty Nichols and Hammel’s free throw, giving the Owls a 70-59 lead with only two minutes to play in the game.

Hammel finished the game with a career-high of 21 points and 5-for-6 from the free throw line.

Keene State also contributed to their win by shooting 30 of 41 from the free throw line and double digit scoring from lead scorer Hammel with 21 points, Nichols with 15 points, and Ozzella and Dizel Wright with 10 points each.

This was the first ever win the Owls have had against Trinity College in a matchup in regular season play.

The Owls moved into Little East Conference play on Dec. 3 against UMass Dartmouth with a five game winning streak and an undefeated season thus far.

The Owls suffered their first loss of the season, as they fell short and lost to UMass Dartmouth 38-71.

The men will travel to Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts, Thursday, Dec. 8 for a non-conference game.

Travis Thuotte can be can be contacted at Tthuotte@kscequinox.com

After four years of team goals set and achieved, championship games won, senior field hockey player Brittney Cardente received an award based on her performance alone.

The Keene State women’s field hockey team has won the Little East Conference (LEC) for the fourth year in a row, but for Brittney Cardente, that was not the only award she would walk away with in her senior year. She would go on to receive the Most Outstanding Player award for the lady Owls.

Tim Smith/ Photo Editor

Cardente explained what she thinks it takes to be the most outstanding player.She replied, “It’s something that really surprised me. I don’t believe it means [I was], so much, the best player, but I’m so honored to receive that award. From pushing myself all summer and coming in for workouts to stay in shape, the other seniors supporting me along with the team and coaches, that pushed me to take that extra step. My coaches and teammates altogether gave me the inspiration to work harder for my last year and they are truly people I look up to.”

She went onto talk about goals that the team had planned at the beginning of the season. Cardente said, “After winning last year and taking the LEC title, the team decided to plan out some goals for us to have throughout the season. We all talked about trying our best to go undefeated and win the LEC, which we were able to do. When it got close to October, we tried and accomplished going undefeated in October. Next on our list for goals was to win the tournament, which we were fortunate to do.”

When talking about staying undefeated and what factors attributed to that, Cardente replied, “Motivation. I can say definitely for myself, being motivated on and off the field contributed a huge part, particularly because I know this is my last year, but also my last season I’ll compete in here at Keene State. I wanted to keep a positive attitude and give 110 percent no matter the outcome. Another factor to being motivated is never giving up and not letting the team down. At the end of the day, no matter the outcome, I can leave knowing I just gave my all on the field. It’s a mentality I try to keep all the time.”

After winning the LEC title each year she’s been at Keene State, “It’s a feeling that most of us seniors are still soaking in. Our [first] year, we had a group of seniors who guided us and inspired us by setting the tone. Our coaching staff support pushed us more to be better when they told us our class could be the next to take on an LEC championship if we worked hard enough for it. Going undefeated in my first two years and again this year for my senior year, it just showed the team how well something can go when everyone works hard enough for it. It made a huge impact on us for sure and I’m very excited and really don’t have words for this feeling,” Cardente said.

Fellow senior Kayla Renaud has been playing with Cardente for all four years. “Brit is very hardworking and dedicated not only in the classroom but also on the field. She puts her best effort and attitude forward no matter what the situation is,” Renaud said.

She continued, “What she brings to the field is her perseverance, positive attitude, willingness to give it her all, and her love for the sport and this is a good motivator for the team. She also sets a really great example for the underclassmen on our team because she is very involved with her major, within athletics (SAAC), and her jobs that she has on campus during the year.”

Renaud can’t stress her ability to multitask. “She also balances her workload effortlessly due to her willingness, care, and motivation towards work and extracurricular actives. Brit is very dependable as a best friend and also as a peer within the community,” Renaud said.

Another player who has had a fortunate memory of winning the LEC their last season is senior Sami Smith. Smith has been on the team throughout the entirety of her college experience and elaborated on the season she and the team has had. She said, “ It always feels good to win and as we became closer to the end of the season, we ended on a fourteen/fifteen game winning streak and I believe it prepared us for the playoffs. At that point late in the season, the team chemistry really started to show with one another.”

Smith continued on team chemistry by talking about the amount of time the team spends with one another when off the field. She said, “We are together all the time and when people are told we are together all the time, they sometimes don’t understand what we really mean. For myself, I live with five other ladies on the team as my roommates. For other ladies on the team, they also live with other teammates and that really shows the time we spend together off the field. When Smith was asked about the true meaning of assists in the game, Smith said, “It’s a huge factor because that’s all it takes is for a player to see the field and see the opening rather than taking the shot on goal. I have learned an assist is just important as a goal because getting the ball up field and looking for that open person, it can be an opportunity to score.”

Cardente ended and said, “The exhilarating feeling this year for myself was pushing myself all year and giving my all, winning the LEC and the award for most outstanding player.”

For Smith, her exhilarating feeling was “realizing when we got back to Keene from the trip to Pennsylvania and being eliminated in the NCAA tournament…that everything was over and it kinda hit home, but it is something I can always remember.”

Cardente and Smith both expressed their passion for the field hockey program and said, “Going forward, I would love to see the team continue to work hard and continue working with the coaching staff to keep that success. Lastly, for Keene State to keep the recognition of having a successful Division III field hockey program and keep coming back each year to the NCAA tournament and earn an opportunity to go even further than this year.”

Travis Thuotte can be contacted at Tthuotte@kscequinox.com

*Correction made 11/16/16 – Last paragraph: corrected “division three” to “Division III”*

For many students, a language can be hard to adjust to, but on Wednesday, Nov. 9, language teacher and Keene High School staff member Nan Hyde brought a new side to the Chinese culture: Kung Fu Martial Arts.

Keene High School language arts teacher Hyde introduced another idea of giving students an opportunity to not only learn a language, but also understand the country’s culture.

Ms. Hyde contacted the Keene High School administration and together they designed a new way to introduce students the culture side of Chinese lifestyles.

Hyde made that idea possible when Sean Sodders,  a KSC student who is an assistant martial arts instructor from the Golden Phoenix School of Chinese Martial Arts, attended Hyde’s freshmen class to give a lesson.

Travis Thoutte/ Equinox Staff

Sodders gave the students insight and leverage on the understanding of the Chinese culture of Kung Fu, as well as self-defense.

Sodders started off the class with a simple hello, both in English and Chinese.

Sodders instructed the class on techniques and moves to use when put in violent altercations that would require self-defense.

Sodders demonstrated a proper way to defend all types of moves an opponent may use such as a kick, punch and techniques for if an opponent were to grab from behind.

During the lesson, Sodders had students demonstrate opponent attacks with one another, but stressed safe practice so no students would be injured during the stunts.

During the self-defense lesson, students were asked at different times about what they can take from the lesson and how it can be attributed to their own lives.

A high school freshmen said, “The techniques might be difficult to learn at first, but it is something I can always have as a back-up when put in a situation where violence may occur.”

She continued, “As a young adolescent, it’s something I can have to use if approached by someone or simply just a trait to have when going out with friends alone and no adults present.”

When another student was asked about the Kung Fu lesson and how it attributes to the chinese language, a student replied with, “This year, learning the Chinese language has been hard for me, but after today’s hands-on lesson, I was able to learn about the Chinese culture in a different way without being in the class with Ms. Hyde. I think it was really cool to learn Kung Fu moves and still have this count as class time.”

Hyde said, “The school and I have discussed different ways to teach the kids not only language, but culture. I got the idea of new ways to expanding the program at Keene High to show kids the Kung Fu martial arts relation to the Chinese culture. “

Hyde mentioned, “This is a learning experience, but it can also be fun while learning these topics such as Kung Fu. It was the first time my class and Keene High School has had a guest teach Kung Fu to a class to display culture. I believe it was a success and something I can see happening again in the near future.”

During another interview, Sodders mentioned his journey through the Kung Fu martial arts by saying, “I got into Kung Fu in the seventh grade when my mom put out the idea to try it. With time, the hobby grew on me, as my brother and myself got into our young adolescent years, now, adult years.” He continued by saying, “We have been in Kung Fu for a combined 12 years.”

Sodders referred back to the English term of Kung Fu, which means gaining through hard work.

When asked what Sodders planned on for the outcome of the lesson he replied, “ I stress the factor of people only get back what the people put in. The hard work a person puts in, it progresses to being a better person and also better at the task that person is doing.” Sodders  described himself as having self-confidence and also receives mentor guidance from Master Steve Frankel who has taught Sodders and his brother Vinny.

Sodders plans on many more sessions with Keene High School, but also extends a welcoming and encouraging hand to joining the Golden Phoenix School of Chinese Martial Arts.

If anyone has interest in signing up and joining the Golden Phoenix School of Chinese Martial Arts, you can check out their page on Facebook or visit the location in North Walpole, New Hampshire, where you can learn more about the programs offered and sign up for martial arts programs such as Wing Chun, Tai Chi and Kung Fu.

Travis Thuotte can be contacted at tthuotte@kscequinox.com

The Keene State women’s rugby club will continue their season as they carry on to New England Regionals.

The women’s rugby club has been a part of the Keene community for almost thirty years, and after a season of hard work and passion, they will be carrying their season on to the next chapter for the first time ever.

A player who has been waiting for this opportunity is senior captain Katelyn Conlon.

Lauren Futtner/ Contributed photo

When Conlon was asked what it took for the team to get to nationals, she gave a huge smile and replied, “Hard work.

The team has given great effort and has been there every day, giving their all and support among each teammate. We are very determined this year after last year’s loss in the playoffs.”

She continued, “As a senior captain, I believe when regionals comes around, playing with fire will be our key. The chemistry from last year was felt by the team, coaching staff and spectators in our last game. We fought ‘till the end, but we ended up coming short. With that being said, having fire and passion will give the team confidence as we move into regionals.”

Conlon has played rugby through most of her college career and appreciates not only the program, but the support from other clubs on campus congratulating them on making it to regionals.

This year, the team has shown another side of their  passion, which is respect on the field against competitors.

Another senior captain is Keanna Winter who said, “As a captain, I have a lot to work toward with other captains and teammates. We’ve accomplished a lot this season, but a huge accomplishment was coming back after last year and making it to regionals.”

Through the team’s hard work and accomplishments, senior Ian McMahon, a men’s rugby club player, took his approach on why he felt the women’s rugby club should be recognized and proud of the season they’re having.

“I would love to see them win, but also continue with the numbers they’re having, the progression of more players, an overall bigger rugby program and the visible determination the girls have had all year,” McMahon said.

When asked about his thoughts on what regionals means to not only women’s rugby, but the rugby program as a whole, he said, “Rugby is a sport that should be noticed in the community more, and by the girls making it to regionals, it goes to show the love for the sport and the program. We approach people like any other club on campus does, which is support and an open hand to welcoming new people into the program.”

As a player on any team, they understand the ways of the game and adjust to them as time goes on, but having a game plan and what the next step is becomes a coach’s decision.

The women’s rugby club Coach Karen Johannesen said she has seen many positive aspects on the field.

When asked what she has seen from not only the girl’s aspect, but what she’s seen in herself as a coach, she said, “I have seen a lot of heart with a solid core of group of kids. Even when our numbers were down, the girls were still here showing heart and ready to work hard day in and day out.”

When Johannesen was asked about her thoughts on what respect means, she answered with, “It’s one of our strengths, and we have been known for that for years.”

She continued, “Whether it be a team’s ability, good or bad, the girls show the utmost respect and sportsmanship. It’s a feather in our cap that we can keep our cool even when teams are getting a little chippie.”

In the upcoming regional game, Johannesen said, “I would like to see the girls show some more feistiness and take the game and win. Our playoff game last year that eliminated us was taken with a drive to win and I’d like to see that again in regionals.”

The Keene State women’s rugby team will continue their journey in the regional tournament as they could possibly face several teams from all over New England.

The team will be notified as regionals come closer, but as of now the opponent is to be determined.

Travis Thuotte can be contacted at Tthuotte@kscequinox.com

On Saturday, the top-seeded Keene State field hockey team took on the No. 8 seed Eastern Connecticut State University in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Little East Conference (LEC) championship at the Keene State Athletic Complex.

The lady Owls got off to a slow start rolling down the field with a few scoring opportunities from senior Sami Smith, missing wide of the net and first-year Hannah Cook, missing a shot early in the game. The Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU)defensive players Alexandra Steward and Katy Jankura made defensive saves to hold the top-seeded Owls scoreless. It wouldn’t be until almost halftime when Keene State’s top scorer Sami Smith gave an assist to first-year Jensyn Dandeneau for Dandeneu’s 12th goal of the season. The Owls would roll right down field again before the half with a chance to score from first-year Hannah Cook, but she was denied by the ECSU Warrior’s goalie Samantha Scavo. The Owls and the Warriors would negotiate with their teams at the half to discuss their game plans.

Jake Paquin/ equinox Staff

In the second half, the Owls came out with a “burning passion” as sophomore Julia Babbitt scored less than two minutes into the second half. Sophomore Mia Brickley would assist Babbitt on the goal to make it a 2-0 lead on the Warriors. The Owls would continue to push through when senior Kayla Renaud scored a minute later, making the Owls take a cruising 3-0 lead over the Warriors.

The second half continued with a 3-0 game, when later on the Owls got a chance to take a penalty stroke for the Warriors mistake and penalty call. Junior Casi Smith would be called upon to take her first stroke of the season and KSC’s stroke against the Warriors. Samantha Scavo denied Smith’s shot at the 45 minute mark.

The ECSU Warriors would not give up on their chances to score, when almost five minutes later the Warriors broke up the shutout by a goal scored by Paige Schneider to make it a 3-1 game. The Owls scored their final goal of the day as Julia Babbitt scored her second goal and 12th of the season from an assist by Smith.

The Owls closed out the game with a 4-1 final, giving the Owls a chance to move onto the next round in the LEC Championship and giving the Warriors a respectable end to their season.

Keene State will host the semifinals at home against the winner of the No. 4 seed Fitchburg State University and the No. 5 seed and rival Plymouth State University. The lady Owls now hold an 18-3 record and hold four of the top 10 goal scorers in the LEC, with leading scorer senior Sami Smith (32), sophomore Erica Stauffer (16), sophomore Julia Babbitt (12) and first-year Jensyn Dandeneau (12).

Travis Thoutte can be contacted at Tthoutte@kscequinox.com