Box Score CORTLAND, N.Y. – Castleton had a chance to draw even with seconds left in regulation but couldn't covert as Keene State escaped with a 10-9 victory in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Cortland on Saturday afternoon.
Tiffany Danyow was fouled while going to goal with ten seconds left, but her free position attempt was saved and the Owls were able to run out the clock. Keene State outshot Castleton 27-17 and won 12 of 21 draw controls to improve to 12-7 and advance to face top-ranked Cortland tomorrow at 1 pm.
Senior Brianna MacKay led the Spartan scoring effort with five goals and one ground ball, while Maria Ploof added two goals and one assist. Grace Johnson had one goal and two assists while Rachel Bombardier picked up four ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Kaitlin Nolan led Keene State with three goals and one assist while Taylor Graff dished off three assists and Taylor Farland scored twice.
The Owls took an early 1-0 lead on a Nolan goal just 1:58 into the contest. Castleton responded at 20:24 as MacKay scored off a feed from Ashley Pelkey, though Keene State took back the lead with 16:53 left.
Johnson evened the score two minutes later, but Nolan made it 3-2 in favor of the Owls with 11:09 remaining. MacKay gave the Spartans its first lead with back-to-back goals over two minutes for a 4-3 advantage with 7:12 left. Keene State ended the half with the final three goals for a 6-4 lead.
Nine minutes into the second half, Castleton trailed the Owls 8-5. Ploof deposited consecutive goals over a three-minute span to pull within one, before MacKay tied the game 8-8 at 17:09 off a feed from Ploof. Nadine Downing gave the Spartans the lead just over a minute later.
The lead was be short lived as the Owls tied it up with 12 minutes left and Tori Weinstock gave them a 10-9 led with just 7:09 left. Castleton had its chances in the final minutes, highlighted by the Danyow free positio,n but the Keene defense held on.
Meghan Els took the loss in net as she allowed ten goals while making ten saves. Anna O'Brien got the win for Keene as she played the final 17:09 and allowed one goal while making two saves. Alison Argiro gave up eight goals with one save in 42:51.
The Spartans finish their season at 12-6. MacKay concluded her impressive season with a program-record 81 goals on the year and tied the single-season points record, with 98 overall.
