Pelligrinelli Scores Five Goals for the Huskies

            KEENE, N.H. -- The second-seeded Keene State College Owls scored four goals in the opening 10 minutes and never looked back defeating the sixth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies 15-8 in a semifinal game of the 2016 Little East Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Thursday afternoon at the Owls Athletic Complex.

            The win propels the Owls into the championship game on Saturday against fourth-seeded Plymouth State University.  Plymouth State upset top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University 13-12 in the other semifinal.  The Owls, now 10-7 overall, will host the championship game.  The Huskies, who upset third-seeded Western Connecticut State University in overtime on Tuesday to reach the semifinal, finished the season 6-10 overall.

            Senior Kaitlin Nolan (Mahopac, N.Y.) scored twice in the opening five minutes, and sophomore Taylor Farland (Fiskdale, Mass./Tantasqua) and junior Jenna Bellano (Brookfield, Conn.) added goals before 10 minutes had elapsed to stake the home side to a 4-0 lead.

            Senior Sarah Pelligrinelli (Southington, Conn.) got the Huskies on the board with 18:31 remaining converting a free-position attempt.  The Owls responded with two goals 40 seconds apart from rookie Samantha Ballard (Queensbury, N.Y.) and Farland to increase their lead to 6-1 midway through the half.  The Huskies, getting goals from four different players, outscored the Owls 4-3 over the final 15 minutes to make it 9-5 at the intermission.

            The Owls opened the second half with another four-goal run to increase their lead to 13-5 with 20 minutes to play.  Pelligrinelli had all three USM goals in the second half, but the Huskies never got closer that six (14-8).

            Pelligrinelli scored a game-high five goals and dished out one assist for a six-point day.  Pelligrinelli finished her career as the Huskies second all-time leading scorer with 197 points on 161 goals and 36 assists.  Senior goalie Caley Presby (Portland, Maine/Deering) made 12 saves.

            Junior Taylor Graf (Hanover, Mass.) quarterbacked the Owls offense picking up seven points on one goal and six assists.  Ballard had three goals and three assists for a six-point game, and Nolan finished with three goals and two assists.  Farland and sophomore Tori Weinstock (Brookfield, Conn.) each contributed two goals and one assist.  Junior goalie Alison Argiro (Hingham, Mass.) made seven saves.

            Keene State had a 35-21 edge in shots, a 16-11 advantage in ground balls and a 15-9 margin in draw controls.  KSC junior Amanda Makar (Yorktown, N.Y.) led all players with five ground balls, and Ballard collected a game-high five draw controls.  USM junior Heather Everett (Waterboro, Maine/Massabesic) scooped up four ground balls, had three draw controls and caused four KSC turnovers. 

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