Owl Teams Kick Off Fall Seasons
KEENE, N.H. 08/31/06 - Keene State fall teams kick off their 2006 seasons with a bang this weekend. KSC men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams will be in tournament action, the Owl field hockey team plays a pair of non- conference games, and KSC cross country squads will hosts their annual alumni meet.
The Keene State men’s soccer team will travel to New Jersey to compete in Rowan University’s Harrison House Invitational. The Owls, who are ranked first in the Little East pre-season poll, will play St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) in a first round game on Friday night (8 p.m.) and face Rowan University on Saturday (7 p.m.). KSC finished last season with a 13-4-3 record and advanced to the finals of the NCAA New England Regional tournament. Coach Ron Butcher, who celebrated his 500th career victory last year, has several holes to fill in his line-up. The team will be without All-Conference forward Mike Cooley who will miss the entire year after suffering a knee injury last spring.
“This weekend will tell us what we need to know and the holes we have to plug,” said Butcher, who’s expecting big years from All-Conference players Eric Scott and Alex Horne. “We lost some key people, but you can’t worry about it. You try to go forward and make the most of it.”
The Owl women will head to New York for the Union College Classic. KSC faces RPI on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) and goes up against 19th ranked Union on Sunday (12 p.m.). The defending ECAC champion Owls who finished last season with a 14-6-3 mark will look to six seniors, including LEC all-stars Breanne Lucey, Ali Corso, Katie Stevens, and Tara Wagner, to lead the way.
Coach Denise Lyons likes the versatility of her team. “We have players who can play a number of positions,” she said. “Hopefully, we can rise to the occasion and come back with a couple of wins.”
The Keene State women’s volleyball team will be at the Western New England tournament this weekend. The Owls are looking to improve on last season’s accomplishment which included a 17-12 record, a program-best third place finish in the LEC, and a first ever appearance in the conference finals.
Second-year coach Bob Weiner will have four freshmen in his rotation. “I always promised myself that I wouldn’t have more than two freshmen playing at a time because it ages a coach quickly,” said Weiner. “However, these kids deserve to play.”
“This is a nice tournament for us,” he added. Both WNEC and Colby-Sawyer are good teams, so we’ll find out early if we can play.”
The Keene State field hockey team will hosts New England College on Friday night (7 p.m.) before traveling to Nichols College on Saturday (1 p.m.). Coach Amy Watson is trying to put the pieces of her team together following a season where the Owls finished with a 14-9 record, captured the LEC tournament and advanced to the NCAA championship. Amanda Rosenbeck, an All-American midfielder, leads the list of returnees.
“We have some great freshman that came in and the veterans came back in shape,” said Watson, four games shy of her 200th career win. “We’re going to try some different combinations in the two games and see what we got.”
Both KSC men’s and women’s cross country squads will hit the trails for the first time at the Alumni Meet on Saturday (11 a.m.) at Owl Athletic Complex. A young Owl men’s team, which made its ninth straight trip to the NCAA championships last fall, will be led by Kevin Kelleher and Brock Welch. All- American Jennifer Adams returns to lead the Owl women.
