KEENE, N.H. 11/6/04 - Courtney Gately's (Canton, Mass.) goal at the 32:26 of the first half stood up as the game-winner in Keene State College's 1-0 victory over Worcester State College in a first round game of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament held Wednesday night at Owl Athletic Complex.

With the victory, KSC (14-5-2) advances to the second round where they face Middlebury College, who posted a 4-0 win over Simmons College in their opening round tournament game. The game at Middlebury begins at 1 p.m. KSC lost earlier this season at Middlebury 4-2.

Gately, who has notched goals in her last four games, went in on a break, and shifting to her right foot, beat Lancer goalie Kim Massa (Westford, Mass.) with a shot to the right side.

"I just the right corner open and touched it by the goalie," said Gately. "I guess I've been at the right place at the right time. As a team we're just pushing to another level."

"It was a tough hard-fought game, but we got the results we needed," said KSC Coach Denise Lyons. "Courtney is a warrior. She fights for every ball and came up big for us again tonight."

Earlier, Tiffany Rotatori (Auburn, Mass.) had a chance to give the Lancers a lead, but her shot from just outside the 18-yard mark went wide left. Katie Stevens (Londonderry, N.H.) had a chance to extend KSC's lead with nine minutes to play, but her backspin shot hit the goal-line and spun out. Stevens missed another strong opportunity minutes later when Massa smothered her shot.

Worcester State had a late flurry with two minutes to play. Lauren Cush (Hudson, Mass.) had her shot stopped by KSC goalie Michelle Mason (Fairport, N.) and Rotatori missed the follow up with a shot wide of the net.

Mason had three saves to post her ninth shutout of the season while Massa stopped 10 shots for the Lancers (12-7-2), who were making their initial appearance in the NCAA Tournament. KSC edged WSC 1-0 in an earlier game in Keene this season.

Making their third NCAA Division III Tournament appearance, the Owls move on to the second round for the first time since 2002 when they advanced to the New England regional finals when they lost to Wheaton College.