'KEENE, N.H. 11/15/03 - The Keene State College women's soccer team saw its season come to an end with a 2-0 loss to Salem State in the semifinal round of the ECAC Division III New England Tournament on Saturday at Owl Athletic Complex.  Joanna Stanford (Weymouth, Mass.) had a goal and an assist to lead third-seed Salem State College to the upset victory over second-seed Keene State College.

With the victory, the defending ECAC Champion Vikings (13-2-6) move on to the title game where they will host fifth-seed Smith College. Smith surprised top seed Brandeis in the other semifinal contest decided by penalty kicks, 3-1 in Smith's favor.

Keene State concludes its season with a 14-6-3 mark.

Salem State made the most of its scoring chances.  The Vikings' first shot on net resulted on a goal when Joanna Stanford (Weymouth, Mass.) scored on a deflection following a corner kick.

KSC's best opportunity to score in the first half was a drive by Tara Wagner (Avon, Conn.) that was knocked over the cross bar by Viking goalie Kristin Edwards (Wakefield, Mass.).

The Vikings added to their lead at the 6:12 mark when Jacki Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass.) put in a rebound to make it 2-0.

Keene State, which out shot SC 19-5, kept the ball in the Viking's side of the field throughout the second half, but could not cut into Salem's lead. With Edwards down, Katie Stevens (Londonderry, N.H.) broke in, but her shot rolled just wide of the near post early bin the half.  Beth Vachon (Amherst, N.H.), who ran in the NCAA Regional Cross Country Championships earlier inn the day in Maine, was moved up front in the closing stages.  She had several scoring chances, but couldn't find the back of the net.

Michelle Mason (Fairport, N.Y.) had two saves for KSC while Edwards finished with 14 saves to notch her 10th shutout of the season.