'WILLIMANTIC, CT 10/22/02 - The Keene State College women's soccer team took a major step in securing home field advantage in the upcoming Little East Conference Tournament with a hard-fought 1-0 upset victory over Eastern Connecticut State University at Thomas Nevers Field on Tuesday.

The game was a showdown of the conferences' two undefeated teams.  Eastern Conn (10-2, 3-1 LEC) entered the contest ranked 10th nationally and second in New England while Keene State (14-2-1, 5-0 LEC) was fifth in the latest regional poll.

The underdog Owls took the play to the Warriors in the first half.  Winning the battles at midfield, KSC finally cashed in when Suzanne Heinkel (Wesfield, N.J.) netted her fourth goal of the season just under 15 minutes into the game. 

The goal came following Erin Lester's (Walpole, N.H.) shot from 20-yards out that hit off the crossbar.  "No one really followed the ball because they thought it was going over," said Heinkel.  "I just saw that it was loose.  It deflected off a defender and I was there and put it in."

It was the first goal Eastern CT had given up in LEC play this season.

"The first goal was key," Heinkel added. "It took the wind out of their sails."

The Owls had a chance to add to their lead minutes later, but Kerri Paquette's (Millbury, MA.) drive hit the crossbar and Lester hit the post seconds later.

Keene State spent the rest of the game protecting its precious one goal advantage.

The Warriors, who had their seven game winning streak snapped had two great scoring opportunities in the game.  Meaghann Booth hit the post off a corner kick with 3:42 left to play in the half and Jen Ferrari, ECSU's top scorer, missed an open net opportunity with a shot wide right with 14 minutes to play.

The Owls kept the Warriors off balance with trap plays and a tight defense.

"Missy (Mangual) did a great job staying with Ferrari," said KSC sweeper Beth Vachon (Amherst, N.H.).  We had them covered, everyone was marking tight. That's why we were able to win."

Michelle Mason (Fairport, N.Y.) finished with two saves for KSC while Stacey Schofield, who saw her 577-minute scoreless streak end, had four saves for the Warriors.

The Owls, who have won five straight, are now in the drivers seat as far as the LEC Tournament is concerned. A win over UMA-Dartmouth at home on Saturday will give KSC home field for the LEC Tournament.

"I thought we worked very hard, we knew coming in it wasn't going to be easy," said KSC Coach Denise Lyons.  "It wasn't a pretty game, it was more like a battle and I think we won the war today."