Keene State Men's Soccer Team Rolls up Sleeves and Snow for Home Tournament Game

KEENE, N.H. 10/31/11 - Surveying the snow covered soccer field at Keene State’s Owl Athletic Complex on Monday morning, most people might come to the conclusion that there’s a snowball chance in…. that the field would be ready for Wednesday’s Little East Conference men’s soccer semifinal tournament game between the Owls and Rhode Island College.

But don’t tell that to the members of the Keene State men’s soccer team who were out in force, 30 strong Monday afternoon, rolling up their sleeves in order to roll huge snowballs to get their field ready for the game. “We’ll get it done,’ said an optimistic Blake Nyman, the teams’ junior captain from Plymouth, Mass. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work, but it’s all going to pay off, so we can have home field advantage.”

The Keene State women’s soccer team is also scheduled to host either UMass- Boston or UMass-Dartmouth in a LEC semifinal game on Friday. According to longtime KSC Coach Ron Butcher, it’s not the first time Keene State players have rolled snow balls instead of soccer balls to get their field in shape for a tournament game. “It’s almost 40 years ago to the day when we did this on the old Sumner Joyce Field,” he said. “We got the whole campus out, but we ran out of time. Then Vice-president Bob Mallett brought out his tractor. Not only did he clear the field, but tore it up. We won the NAIA game against Castleton and were off to the national tournament. I hope it’s a good omen.”

You have to go into a game with a good game plan and Butcher explains his strategy against the heavily favored snow that blanketed the field. “You start in the middle and try to go to the ends and spread the wealth around,” he said. “Once you get the balls going, you got to keep them rolling.”

Breaking from the team huddle, players took off in all directions. No need to rush, there was plenty of snow for everyone.

Some of them got the hang of it pretty quickly, including Preston Ingram, a sophomore from Newport, Vt. “I made a lot of snowmen over the years, so I think I have the most experience on the team,” he said. “It’s all about packing in the sides as you go.”

Things didn’t go completely smooth for Ingram, who tore a hole in his pants from lifting the snow. Freshman Charlie Pilger also had equipment problems, forgetting to wear any gloves.

Others struggled getting their snow balls rolling. “I’m feeling pretty tied,” said Brett Sullivan, with perspiration running down his face. “I’d rather be at practice then do this.”

Freshman Dylan Morrill was also fighting an uphill battle. “You have to start with a perfect circle,” he said. “Right now I have something that looks like an octagon.”

Taking time out for an occasional snow ball fight, the Owls weren’t going to let a few inches of snow derail their quest to defend their Little East crown.

Like their season that started slow and picked up steam, the Owls slowly and surely made progress. The horizontal and diagonal strips of grass now in view resembled a tic-tac-toe board. “It’s all about team work, “said Joe Senecal. “It’s going to take a little longer than we think, but we’ll do anything for home field advantage right now.”

A final determination on the status of the field will be made on Tuesday. Knowing the determination and positive mindset that has carried the Keene State team this season, it’s a good bet that that soccer balls will be replaced by snowballs on Wednesday.