DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth field hockey team came up short against Keene State College, 4-2, on Friday night in the opening Little East Conference (LEC) game of the 2025 season. The Corsairs start conference play 0-1 and are now 1-7 overall while the Owls picked up their first league win and improved to a 7-1 overall mark.
The visitors opened the game by firing four consecutive shots on target, all saved by Corsairs goalie
Shane Cueman, in the opening seven minutes of action. Senior captain
Abby Perry tested Owls goalie Clara Gorman with a shot on frame which led to the first penalty corner of the night for UMass Dartmouth.
Junior captain
Sophia Bouffard delivered the ball to the top of the arc where senior captain
Lillian Bento was ready to receive. Bento dished the ball back to Bouffard who drilled a low shot into the back of the cage to give the Corsairs a 1-0 edge at the 8:26 mark. The Owls responded with under two minutes left in the period by tying the score up thanks to a late goal by Grace Bazin to make it 1-1.
Early in the second period, Bazin notched her second goal of the night to give Keene State their first lead of the contest. After Meghan Daileanes extended the Owls advantage to 3-1 at the 27:29 mark, the Corsairs continued to fight earning a penalty corner in the final seconds of the period. First year
Hayley Pelletier and Bouffard each ripped a shot on target off the corner, but the visitors held on to their two-goal lead entering halftime.
Keene State started the third period by outshooting UMass Dartmouth 4-1 featuring two more saves by Cueman. The Owls pulled away with a 4-1 lead after a score by Grace Seabury, but shortly after first year
Kelly Bates answered for the Corsairs with a goal off the helper from Bento to cut Keene State's lead in half to 4-2. Cueman posted four stops in the final period of the game to keep the Owls off the scoreboard, but the visitors sealed their win by a final score of 4-2 from Cressy Field.
The Owls outshot the Corsairs 28-9 and held a 22-6 shots on-goal margin in the game. Keene State also earned nine total penalty corners compared to UMass Dartmouth with four in the contest.
Bouffard posted her second goal of the season for two points after firing two shots on frame. Bates also recorded her second score of the season for the Corsairs while Bento registered a career-high two assists for two points.
Cueman produced 18 total saves and allowed four goals in the cage for UMass Dartmouth. Her counterpart finished the game with four total stops and two goals allowed in net for Keene State.
UMass Dartmouth travels to Western Connecticut State for their next LEC tilt on Saturday, September 27
th starting at 4:00 p.m. from The Westside Athletic Complex.
