NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's lacrosse team wrapped up its five-game homestand on Wednesday afternoon, falling 17-9 to Keene State College in a non-conference matchup on Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.

Six Cadets found the back of the net in the contest, highlighted by a milestone performance from Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.), who recorded a hat trick while netting the 100th goal of his collegiate career.  Jake Marcotte (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) added three points on two goals and an assist, while both James Raymond (Tracy's Landing, Md.) and Zachary Cooney (Victor, N.Y.) contributed one goal and one assist apiece.  Liam O'Neill (Hingham, Mass.) and Christian Rainis (Wynantskill, N.Y.) also tallied, and Jackson Forbes (Merrimack, N.H.) chipped in an assist.

Norwich seized early momentum with a sharp offensive start.  Raymond opened the scoring just over two minutes into play before setting up Marcotte roughly 90 seconds later to give the Cadets a quick 2-0 advantage.  Keene State answered decisively, however, stringing together six unanswered goals across the next 10 minutes to build a 6-2 lead.  Fleury halted the surge late in the first quarter, converting an unassisted strike with 1:11 remaining.

The teams traded goals early in the second frame, as Marcotte buried his second tally of the afternoon to trim the deficit to 7-4.  The Owls soon mounted another run, scoring three consecutive times to regain control.  Norwich responded in dramatic fashion just before halftime, with Fleury ripping home a shot in the final two seconds to cut the margin to 10-5 at the break.

Fleury wasted little time completing his hat trick, scoring just over a minute into the third quarter.  A lengthy defensive battle followed, with neither side finding the scoreboard for nearly 12 minutes before Keene State broke through.  Rainis later capitalized on a man-up opportunity, finishing a pass from Forbes with 43 seconds remaining in the period to keep the Cadets within four, 11-7.

That proved to be the closest Norwich would come.  Keene State pulled away with a decisive six-goal run to push its lead into double digits.  The Cadets generated a late response in the closing minutes, as Marcotte connected with Cooney to snap the Owls' momentum with 2:25 remaining.  O'Neill followed by converting a feed from Cooney to account for the final margin.

Norwich collected 21 ground balls in the contest, paced by three from Fleury, while the defensive unit forced 13 caused turnovers.  Fleury, O'Neill, and Jack Bailey (Weymouth, Mass.) each recorded two caused turnovers to lead the effort.

The Cadets will now head out on a three-game road swing, beginning with a trip to Mitchell College on Saturday, Mar. 28, for a 2:00 p.m. matchup in New London, Conn.  Norwich will then travel to New England College on Wednesday, Apr. 1, before visiting Rivier University on Saturday, Apr. 4.