PLYMOUTH, N.H. 10/9/04 - Freshman midfielder Greg Sauer (West Brookfield, Mass.) couldn't have picked a better time to notch his first college goal for the Owls. His goal one minute and 25 seconds into overtime lifted Keene State College to a 2-1 Little East men's soccer victory over rival Plymouth State at Panther field on Saturday.

"It was your typical Keene State-Plymouth State battle," said KSC Coach Ron Butcher, whose 15th ranked Owls improve to 9-2-1 (4-0 LEC).

Frustrated with a play of his veterans, Butcher decided to play his freshman in the second half, and Sauer made his coach look good. Collecting a loose ball following a corner kick by Eric Scott (West Springfield, Mass.), Sauer, taking a feed from Joey Amaio (Wethersfield, Conn.) blasted in his first goal of the season to give KSC the victory.

The Owls had a chance to win the game earlier in the overtime, but PSU goalie Dan Custance (Holderness, N.H.) tipped Ralph Rocco's (Groton, Mass.) shot over the cross bar.

Keene State took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the game. After a throw-in by Casey Banks (Westborough, Mass.), Jimmy Hogan (Plymouth, N.H.) flicked a pass to John Harke (Leeds, Mass.) who scored his fourth goal of the season.

The Panthers answered later in the half with Felix Rosen headed in a through ball to tie the score.

After a scoreless second half that featured a game-saving stop by Owl goalie Brandon Beck (Johnstown, N.Y) off of Rosen with nine minutes to play, the Owls went on the offensive in the overtime period and Sauer delivered the game-winner for Keene State.

Beck made two saves for KSC while Custance stopped four shots for PSU (6-4-1, 2-2 LEC). KSC returns home to host RPI on Wednesday (6:30 P.M.).