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2026 LEC Field Hockey Champions - University of Southern Maine
Max McClure, Athletic Communications Student Employee
0
Keene St. KEENE ST (14-8)
1
Winner Southern Me. SOUTHERN (15-7)
Keene St. KEENE ST
(14-8)
0
Final
1
Southern Me. SOUTHERN
(15-7)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Keene St. KEENE ST 0 0 0 0 0
Southern Me. SOUTHERN 0 1 0 0 1

Game Recap: Field Hockey | | Christina Cracolici, Director of Athletic Communications

Southern Maine Defeats Keene State 1-0 to Claim 2026 Little East Championship

Addison Battis Scores Game-Winner; Haylee Romasco with Seven Saves in Shutout

GORHAM, Maine  – Sophomore Addison Battis (Fairfield, Maine/Lawrence) scored the game-winning goal in the 22nd minute and freshman goalkeeper Haylee Romasco (Newport, Maine/Nokomis) made seven saves to help the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 1-0 win over the Keene State College Owls and the 2026 Little East Conference Tournament Championship.
 
With the win, Southern Maine earns the LEC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III National Championship tournament, and claims its second conference title in four years (2023, 2026). The Huskies entered the tourney as the top-seed and the 2026 LEC Regular Season Champions. Senior Dylan Barr (Phippsburg, Maine/Morse) was named the 2026 LEC Most Outstanding Player.
 
THE RECORDS
No. 3 Keene State (14-8)
No. 1 Southern Maine (15-7)
 
Today's game marked the 52nd meeting between the Keene State College Owls and the University of Southern Maine Huskies.  The Owls defeated the Huskies 2-1 to close out the regular season on October 31.  The Huskies last defeated the Owls in 2023 for the 2023 Little East Conference title, and Keene State leads the overall series 34-16. Southern Maine also defeated the Owls by the score of 1-0 in 2023 for the championship crown.
 
THE GOALKEEPERS:
SM: Haylee Romasco (13-6), 60:00, 0 GA, 7Saves
KSC: Tori Kelly (14-8), 56:06, 1 GA, 1 Save; TM, 03:54, 0 GA, 0 SV
 
Defensive Saves: SM, Julia Elie
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
  • The game started slow with most of the action happening centrally to start the first quarter.  Southern Maine earned the first opportunity of the game with a penalty corner at 7:09, but were unable to use it. Play continued centrally until the 12:29 mark when the Owls earned the first of eight penalty corners of the opening quarter.  The Owls won five consecutive penalty corners and Grace Seabury's bid to loft a ball over the keeper on the final go missed just high of the frame.  KSC's Charleigh Bohannon had the first shot on goal of the game, but Romasco made the first of her two saves to close out the quarter at 0-0. 
  • Southern Maine started the second half off strong, maintaining possession, and Battis put the Huskies up 1-0 at 21:48 redirecting a ball on the far post on an assist from senior Bri Townsend (Newport, Maine/Nokomis).  The goal is Battis' third of the season and the first game-winner of her career. The game remained even for the rest of the half.  The Owls had a good look at goal following another penalty corner by Ella DiMatteo's shot went wide of the goal.
  • USM pressed for a second goal early in the third with an attempt from Townsend that went just wide, and a missle of a shot from senior Leah Thibodeau (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) in the 32nd minute, but KSC keeper Tori Kelly made the save with her pads.
  • KSC gained momentum in the 37th minute of the game and registered all four of its third-quarter shots in the final eight minutes of the frame; however, Romasco made a strong save on an attempt from Lucy Dickenson to keep the game at 1-0 in favor of the Huskies.
  • The Owls flexed their offensive intensity to open the fourth and final quarter, earning three penalty corners and firing off five shots in the first five minutes. Shots from Dickenson and Lilah Carr were stopped by Romasco, and a shot from just in front of the cage from Grace Seabury was cleared off the line by a defensive save from Husky senior Julia Elie's (Dayton, Maine/Thornton Academy).
  • The Owls kept the pressure on the Huskies' defense, and held the ball in their offensive end for a majority of the fourth, but Romasco and junior Jayla Gentry (Skowhegan, Maine) made big plays in the final moments to keep USM ahead.
  • KSC pulled its goal in the final four minutes of the game to search for an equalizer with 12 field players, but USM got enough out of its defense to run out the clock and grab the win.
 
INSIDE THE STATS:
  • Keene State had the upper hand in shots 15-5, and in penalty corners 15-3, including eight in the first quarter.
  • Southern Maine has three Little East Conference championships in program history.  The Huskies earned the first in 2003, and waited 20 years before its second in 2023 before claiming the 2026 crown.  The Huskies have been LEC regular season champions three times in the last six seasons: 2022, 2023 and 2026.   
 
UP NEXT:
Southern Maine advances to the 2026 NCAA Division III Field Hockey National Championship Tournament, earning the Little East Conference's automatic bid.  The NCAA will broadcast its 2026 Selection Show on Sunday, November 8 at 9 pm at ncaa.com. Twenty-eight teams will make up the bracket, consisting of 18 automatic bids and 10 at-large bids. The first round of the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament will be played on Wednesday, November 11 at campus sites (tba).
 
-cac-
 
 
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