Box Score KEENE, N.H. -- Sophomore Joe Nutting (Amherst, N.H.) scored four goals and added three assists for seven points, as top-seeded Keene State notched an 18-7 victory over fourth-seeded UMass Dartmouth in semifinal round action of the 2019 Little East Conference Men's Lacrosse Championships Friday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.
The host Owls, who improve to 10-5 overall, advance to the Little East championship match against either second-seeded Plymouth State or sixth-seeded UMass Boston tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm, while the visiting Corsairs finish their season at 8-10 overall.
Keene State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just 64 seconds into the contest, but UMass Dartmouth responded with five unanswered goals in just over seven minutes of action to take a 5-2 edge on sophomore Tim Jordan's (Sandwich, Mass.) tally with 5:57 to play in a first quarter that saw the teams combine for 10 goals. The Owls netted the next five markers of the match to take a 7-5 lead early in the second stanza, and after junior Mike Rizzo (Bridgewater, Mass.) pulled the Corsairs back to within one with 6:58 remaining in the half, Nutting and senior Bobby Carey (Wallingford, Conn.) added tallies in the final 2:02 before intermission to give the hosts a 9-6 advantage at the break.
Carey and junior Dave Wiedenfeld (Londonderry, N.H.) helped Keene State take control of the contest in the third quarter with two goals each that helped expand the Owls' lead to 14-6, as the hosts limited UMass Dartmouth to just one second half score while receiving tallies from eight different players in the final 30 minutes of action to post their triumph. Carey finished with four scores and an assist for five points for the winners, who received a pair of tallies and four helpers from Wiedenfeld along with two markers and an assist each off the sticks of sophomore Michael Fritschy (Sterling, Mass.) and freshman Shane Molloy (Guilford, Conn.).
Rizzo collected a pair of goals and an assist in the setback for the Corsairs, who received two goals from Jordan on the afternoon. Junior Donovan Prozinski (Ashland, Mass.) joined sophomores Sawyer Gibbons (Sandwich, Mass.) and Josh Souza (Sandwich, Mass.) in netting a marker on the day for UMass Dartmouth, which received an assist from freshman Kevin Swenson (Ipswich, Mass.).
Sophomore Chase Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) picked up his ninth win in goal with a six-save effort for Keene State, while junior Ted McCaffery (Pepperell, Mass.) made 17 stops in the setback for UMass Dartmouth. The Owls outshot the Corsairs by a 56-33 margin overall (35-13 on goals) and held an 18-9 edge in the faceoff circle for the contest.
