Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – UMass Dartmouth rallied to outscore Keene State in the second quarter of play on Saturday, but the Little East Conference-leading Owls proved to be too much in the second half, ultimately downing the Corsairs by a 19-10 score.
Keene State, now 10-3 overall, rattled of eight goals immediately after the opening whistle, which proved to be the difference-maker as the Owls remain unbeaten in the conference. UMass Dartmouth falls to 2-3 in the LEC and 5-9 overall.
The Corsairs were paced by seniors Bo Prozinski (Ashland, Mass.) and Tyler Prentice (Chelmsford, Mass.), who each registered three goals. Sophomore DJ Miller (Ashland, Mass.) tacked on a pair of goals to go along with two assists. Junior Matt LaFond (Bridgewater, Mass.) performed strongly in goal, making a career-high 19 saves on the outing.
Owl senior Tyler McKelvie (Acton, Mass.) put in a team-high five goals on the day, followed by juniors Rob Hart (Londonderry, N.H.) and Tyler Reilly (Grafton, Mass.) with four each. Hart also dished out two assists.
The visitors came out firing, dictating a fast pace of play early. Within the first 40 seconds, Keene State had already put two on the board from Hart and Reilly. Prozinski opened the scoring for the Corsairs at 2:03, but the Owls would put in the next six goals, including two from McKelvie and two more from Reilly, to own an 8-1 through the first 15 minutes.
McKelvie scored two more to begin the second quarter before the momentum shifted. With a man-up goal 7:09, Prozinski kicked off a five-goal run by UMass Dartmouth. Prentice netted his first score on an Alex Lucas (Brookfield, Mass.) assist less than a minute later, and Miller bookended another Prozinski tally to push the hosts into halftime trailing just four.
Following the break, the Owls regained control, scoring three of the four third quarter goals, including two off the stick of sophomore Paul Beling (Holliston, Mass.). Keene State then registered the first four goals in the final stanza within six minutes, increasing its lead to 17-7 and effectively pushing the game out of reach.
UMass Dartmouth freshman Jimmy Hirtle (Tewskbury, Mass.) was dominant at the X, going 15-28 on faceoffs while collecting a team-high nine ground balls. The visitors outshot the hosts by a wide margin, 62-40 on the game.
The Owls split time between sophomore Mathew Howe (Bedford, N.H.) and senior Alex Sharp (Winchester, Mass.) in goal, with Howe earning the win with five saves. Sharp played the second half, turning aside 11 shots.
The Corsairs are home again next Tuesday, hosting Western Connecticut for a league match at 7 p.m., while Keene State hosts Salem State at 5 p.m. the same day.
