The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) recently announced its picks for its All-America team, and two Owls were on it. Carly Benning, a senior from Brewster, Mass., was named to the second-team, while Erin Dallas, a senior from Marlow, N.H., was a third-team selection. She was also named to the first-team of the womensfieldhockey.com All-America squad.

A first-time All-American, Benning led the Little East Conference in points (58) and goals (27). She had a knack for netting the decisive score this season, notching game-winning goals in 14 of Keene State’s 18 victories, and is the seventh Owl to reach the coveted 100-point career milestone.

Dallas becomes the first player in the program’s history to become a three-time All-American. She earned first-team honors the past two seasons as a midfielder and was recognized for her skill on defense this season. She is the first student-athlete in the history of the Little East to be honored as both the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year in her career and is a three-time first-team All-Region and All-LEC pick.

If you’ve been following Erin’s remarkable – miraculous, really – career, you know that she returned this season after a life-and-limb-threatening illness last winter.

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LEC tournaments start tomorrow here at KSC as four Owl teams have earned coveted spots. The men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey teams have grabbed top seeds, while the KSC women’s volleyball squad is seeded fourth.

Looking for its sixth-straight LEC tournament title, the Keene State field hockey team (16-4) gets the ball rolling with a quarterfinal game against eighth-seed Salem State (8-8) on Tuesday night (6 p.m.), and the defending champion Keene State women’s volleyball team (18-16) takes on fourth-seed Rhode Island College (17-18) in a quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. at Spaulding Gym.

The KSC men’s soccer team (13-6) faces fourth-seed UMass-Dartmouth (9-6-2) on Wednesday (6 p.m.), while the Owl women (13-5-2), who get a first-round bye, take on the winner of the #4 Western Conn.-#5 Southern Maine game on Thursday (6 p.m.).

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Erin Dallas

Anyone who has been paying any attention to KSC field hockey star Erin Dallas’ career knows that, just last winter, it looked like that stellar athletic career was over.

Dallas had developed a necrotizing fasciitis infection (a rare bacterial infection that can destroy skin and the soft tissue beneath it) after routine ACL surgery last December. At first, it looked like she wouldn’t survive the infection. Then it looked like she would lose her leg. Then it looked like she’d never walk normally, and certainly never play field hockey again. But now it looks like she’s defied all the odds. In nothing short of a miracle, Erin Dallas is back on the field. Her biggest challenge now? Whether to play offense or defense.

Use the “comments” button below to let us  know if you’ve seen this amazing athlete in action, or to send her a note of congratulations.

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Amy Watson

Head field hockey coach Amy Watson has been promoted to full-time status. She’s just starting her 20th season at Keene State and has had a very impressive record coaching the Owls. She’s seen the field hockey team capture seven Little East Conference championships (1998, 1999, 2004–08), earn six NCAA berths (1998, 2004–08), and claim the 2003 ECAC New England title. She has also produced 12 All-Americans.

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For the second year in a row Keene State’s Erin Dallas and Alyssa Rowell have been named All-American by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA).

Dallas, a junior midfielder from Marlow, N.H., becomes the first Owl player to earn first-team All-American twice, while Rowell, a senior back from Queensbury, N.Y., moves up from third-team last year to second-team honors this season.

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