October 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Field Hockey Loses 3-1 at Keene State

Northampton, MA: The Pioneers ended their 2009 season at Keene State College last night in a hard fought, non-conference contest and fell 3-1. Smith concluded the season 3-13 overall while the Owls improved to 15-4.

The Owls took an early lead just five minutes into the game when Carly Benning (Brewster, MA) scored off a corner as she redirected a shot by junior Leigh Smith (Sanbornton, NH).  Keene's offensive intensity kept Smith keeper Margaret Winter (Purchase, NY) busy as she stopped consecutive shots and a defensive save by Mary Kate Long (Harrisville, NH) kept the score at 1-0.

Smith had numerous shots in the opening minutes of the second half and a defensive save by Keene on a shot by Nomindari Goulden (Rutledge, PA) maintained Keene's lead.  Benning scored her second goal of the game at the 55:36 mark to give the Owls a 2-0 advantage. The Pioneers offense refused to be shut out and with 12:13 left to play, sophomore Phoebe Hopkins (Philadelphia, PA) fed a pass to Goulden who tallied Smith's goal.  The Owls scored their third goal with 5:17 left.  Winter '10  had a great performance in her last game in goal as she made 18 saves while Vikki Stoessel and Meghan Ledoux combined for eleven saves for the Owls.

                                                              1             2            F
Smith (3-13)                                          0              1            1
Keene State (15-4)                                1              2            3

Scoring:
5:06  KS Carly Benning (Leigh Smith)
55:36 KS Carly Benning
58:16 SM Nomindari Goulden (Phoebe Hopkins)
64:43 KS Niki Smith (Erin Dallas)

Keepers:  Smith - Margaret Winter (70 mins., 3 GA, 18 saves) Keene State - Vikki Stoessel (35 mins, 0 GA, 6 saves) Meghan Ledoux (35 mins., 1 GA, 5 saves)

Shots - Smith (18), Keene (32); Corners - Smith (4), Keene (14)