Panthers overcome early deficit, use balanced scoring in victory

            KEENE, N.H. – The Plymouth State University women's lacrosse team overcame an early 4-0 deficit to rival Keene State College Tuesday afternoon, tallying six straight goals and the Panthers went on to a 15-10 victory over the Owls in a key Little East Conference battle at the Owl Sports Complex.

            The Panthers pushed their winning streak to five games, improving to 9-3 overall and 3-0 in the Little East, and moving into a tie for first place with Western Connecticut (8-4, 3-0). The Owls suffered their first conference loss of the season and fall to 3-10 overall and 3-1 in the LEC.

            PSU used its usual strong, balanced scoring attack, with five players scoring at least two goals. Senior Amy MacDonald (Hull, Mass.) tallied a game-high five goals while sophomore Caroline Vonachen (Framingham, Mass.) notched four goals and an assist. Senior Shannon Connerty (Nashua, N.H.) and freshman Megan Tingley (Natick, Mass.) contributed two goals and three assists apiece, and senior Molly Gleason (Haverhill, Mass.) also scored twice while collecting team-highs of seven draw controls, six ground balls and two caused turnovers.

            Connerty's five points lifted her career totals to 137 goals and 67 assists for 204 points, as she became the sixth player in school history and the second this season to reach the 200-point milestone. MacDonald, who went over 200 points earlier this season, has moved into third place on the PSU career scoring list with 230 points on 156 goals and 74 assists.

            Taylor Farland led the Owls with three goals, while Kaitlin Nolan and Polly Grey scored twice each.

            Keene State controlled the first 10 minutes of the game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. PSU regrouped, and roared back with six consecutive goals to take a 6-4 lead. Vonachen and MacDonald had two goals each in the comeback and Gleason and Connerty scored one each.

            After Farland stopped PSU's streak, the Panthers didn't let up and tacked on three in a row, two by MacDonald and one by Gleason, to go up 9-5 with just under three minutes left in the half. Nolan gave Keene State some life with two straight goals, but Tingley closed out the first-half scoring in the final minute to give PSU a 10-7 margin at the break.

            Vonachen and Connerty opened the second-half scoring for PSU, and Farland and Taylor Graf answered for the Owls. MacDonald and Vonachen scored two more times for the Panthers to put the visitors ahead 14-9, and Farland and Tingley traded goals with 12 and 11 minutes remaining, respectively. Neither team scored in the final 11 minutes.

            Senior goalie Casey Curran (Framingham, Mass.) made 13 saves to earn the win in the Panther cage, while Alison Argiro made eight saves at the other end. Keene State finished with a 31-27 advantage in shots, while PSU had the margin in draw controls, 15-12, and ground balls, 27-19.

            Plymouth State will host Western Connecticut in the battle for first place this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the New Hampton School. Keene State hosts UMass Dartmouth Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

-- 30 --