ROCHESTER, N.Y. 9/1/01 - Freshman Beth Vachon's (Amherst, NH) goal with 1:04 remaining in the second overtime lifted Keene State College to a season-opening 1-0 victory over Oneonta State at the Flower City Classic at the University of Rochester on Saturday.

The upset win by the Owls was against a Red Dragon team, which won the SUNYAC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regional finals last season.

The game-winning goal came off a corner kick play. When the ball wasn't cleared, senior co-captain Jessica Williams (Nashua, N.H.) fed it over to the weak side, and Vachon put it over the goalies head for her first collegiate goal.

'The game was played at a very fast pace and could have gone either way,' said KSC Coach Denise Lyons. We were very fortunate to get one in the net as time was running out.'

Although they weren't tested a great deal, both goalies came up with key saves when they called upon. Making her first start in goal, freshman Michelle Mason (Fairport, N.Y.) finished with nine saves for the Owls. Two of her stops came during one-on-one plays in the second half. 'Those were big-time saves,' said Lyons.

Erin Hodges finished with two saves for Oneonta State, which were facing the KSC for the first time.

Keene State had several scoring opportunities in the game, including late in the first overtime when Vachon's shot sailed just over the crossbar.

Although she started a veteran team, Lyons used several of her freshmen in the game including Claremont's Melissa Bergeron and Molly Neider. Bergeron had four shots on goal.

Keene State will face host University of Rochester on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.