Keene State Men's Soccer and Field Hockey Teams to Play in Little East Championship Games
KEENE, N.H. 11/3/06 - Keene State College men’s soccer and field hockey teams will play in Little East Conference championship games on Saturday. The top- seed Owl field hockey team (17-4) will host second-seed UMass-Dartmouth (17-3) at Owl Athletic Complex at 1 p.m. The third-seed Keene State men’s soccer team (13-5-1) will travel to Plymouth to face the top-seed Panthers (10-5-2) at 4 p.m.
The Keene State field hockey team stamped its ticket to the finals with an exhilarating 1-0 overtime win over fourth-seed Worcester State on Thursday. Freshman Karen Robinson scored the deciding penalty stroke goal with 1:50 remaining in the first overtime. UMass-Dartmouth advanced to the title game with an equally dramatic 2-1 double overtime win against third-seed Southern Maine.
The defending champion Owls, who defeated the Corsairs 2-1 earlier in the season, will be making their sixth trip to the LEC finals. They captured the championship in 1998, 1999, 2004, and 2005.
The second-seed Keene State men’s soccer team moved onto the finals after posting a 3-0 shutout win over third-seed Rhode Island College in Thursday’s semifinal game. Jeremy Kelsey, Alex Horne, and Scott Cluff netted goals for the Owls, who are making their sixth trip to the finals. KSC won the championship in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Keene State has met the Panthers twice in the finals. The Owls prevailed both times, in 1999 (1-0, OT) and in 2001 (5-0).
Rival Plymouth State played to a 1-1 stalemate against fourth-seed UMass- Boston, but advanced to the championship after outscoring the Beacons 4-2 in penalty kicks. PSU edged KSC 1-0 in a double overtime regular season game played earlier in the season at Plymouth.
On Friday, Keene State women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams will also be shooting for LEC championship game berths. The third-seed Owl women’s soccer team faces second-seed Eastern Conn. at Danbury, Conn. The fourth-seed KSC women’s volleyball team battles top-seed Eastern Conn. in Willimantic, Conn.
