'KEENE, N.H. 11/8/03 - The top-seeded Keene State College Owls were upset 2-1 by third-seed University of Southern Maine in the Little East Conference field hockey championship game on Saturday at Owl Athletic Complex.

The Huskies, who were defeated by Plymouth State 2-1 in last year's LEC championship, earned its first NCAA berth with the victory.  KSC falls to 16-6, while USM improves to 17-5 overall. 

Senior forward Renee Heath (Brunswick, Maine), who was named Most Outstanding Player in the tournament, led USM with one goal and one assist.  She scored the lone goal in the first half at 19:29 off a penalty corner by senior midfielder Darci Holland (Buckfield, Maine). 

Returning from halftime, USM wasted no time getting on the board with a goal from freshman midfielder Kerry Leonard (Stamford, Conn.) just six minutes into the half.  Holland got an assist on the play, and went on to increase the Huskies lead to 3-0 with a goal at 56:13. 

The Owls prevented the shutout when Kaitlin Henley (Somers, N.Y.) scored off a pass from Justina Wentworth (Keene, N.H.) with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

KSC had a 23-5 shot advantage. 

"I think we played great today," said KSC coach Amy Watson.  "We outshot them; we dominated but we could not get the ball pass Jessie Superchi and that made all the difference."

Jessie Superchi (Campton, N.H.) finished with 20 saves, while Caitlin Baril (Canton, Mass.) turned aside two shots. 

KSC hopes to earn a postseason bid in the ECAC Championship field, while Southern Maine will find out who it will face in the NCAA Division III tournament on Sunday.