Laxer keeper finding consistency

When the ball explodes from the shooter's stick, there is really no time to think. There is barely time to react. It's simply reaction pitted against action.

And to the victor go the spoils.

In the early part of Saturday's men's lacrosse game between Stony Brook and Penn State, Nittany Lion goalkeeper Kevin Keenan was masterful. It was if he knew, or sensed, where each ball was going before it was even on its way.

In the first half, the Penn State netminder faced 15 shots and surrendered just two goals.

"You get in a groove," Keenan said. "You definitely see the ball better and move to the ball better. When it goes good, it's easy to make the saves."

This season, though, Keenan hasn't always found the groove. While there have been superb performances -- like the eight- and five-goal efforts against Yale and the University of Maryland Baltimore County -- there also have been some frightful ones.

Against No. 7 Georgetown on March 16, Keenan combined with backup Andy King to surrender 18 goals. A week later, the same tandem surrendered 18 again -- this time against No. 1 Princeton.

"He (Keenan) is certainly a very capable goalkeeper," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said. "He's just been a little too inconsistent, but it's the kind of position where that can happen."

Against Stony Brook, inconsistency reared its head once again. Leading, 7-2, at the half, Keenan allowed seven goals in the third quarter. At the end of the period, Penn State led by just one, 10-9. What once looked like a blowout was suddenly too close for comfort.

"I don't know what happened," Keenan said, "In the second half the defense stayed in that groove and kept doing their job, and I just blew it. I don't know what I was doing."

As the game that started with such promise began to spiral out of control, Keenan did something his coach has been looking for all season. He refocused.

In the final quarter the Lion keeper allowed just two goals. His offensive teammates provided five goals, and Penn State escaped with a 15-11 win.

While it wasn't his best game of the season, Keenan may have escaped with something more than a win. He may have escaped with the key to consistency.