KEENE, N.H. 11/13/04 - Eric Lauricella's (Rochester, N.Y.) goal at the 7:19 mark of the second half lifted Geneseo State to a 3-2 victory over host Keene State College in a second round game of the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament held Saturday at Owl Athletic Complex.

Following a direct kick by David Aguado (Kings Park, N.Y.) into the box, Lauricella knocked in the second rebound for the go-ahead goal. With the victory, the Blue Knights (15-4-2) advance to the third round where they will face the winner of the Wheaton College-Babson College game, which was postponed on Saturday due to bad field conditions. Keene State concludes its season with a 16-4-1 record.

It was a tough loss for Coach Ron Butcher and the Owls, who have been unable to move past the second round in three tries. "We can win all the conference championships in the world, but we just can't get by the second round of the NCAAs," said Butcher. " Let's give Geneseo credit, they came to play and scored three great goals." Both teams had solid scoring opportunities in the early going of the game. KSC's Jimmy Hogan's (Holderness, N.H.) header off a corner was blocked, and moments later an apparent Blue Knight goal was called back on an off-side call.

After KSC lost the services of back Erik Halsey (Francestown, N.H.) with an ankle injury at the 29:03 mark, Geneseo's David Fink (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) had a shot kicked away by Hogan, and Tyler Ferrera's (Rochester, N.Y.) drive was saved by Brandon Beck (Johnstown, N.Y.) at the corner of the net. Later at the 13 minute mark, Beck needed to make a diving save off of Lauricella to keep Geneseo off the board. Both teams finally broke through with goals two minutes apart. Pelse Mesa (Manchester, N.H.) took a centering pass from Joey Amaio (Wethersfield, Conn.) and blasted in his second goal of the season to give KSC a 1-0 lead at the 9:55 mark. The Blue Knights quickly answered when Beck dropped the ball and Aguado deposited the loose ball into the net. The Blue Knights went up 2-1 at the 60:30 mark of the second half. Following a foul, Jim Felluca (Rochester, N.Y.) put a free kick into the box that was deflected home by Aguado for his second of the game and ninth of the season.

Keene State got the equalizer 14 minutes later. Standing 21-yard out, Brendan Flynn (Dunbarton, N.H.) delivered the ball to John Harke (Leeds, Mass.), who turned and fired a rising shot into the top of the net.

Eric Scott (W. Springfield, Mass.) had a strong bid later in the half, but his shot tipped off the hand of Geneseo goalie Chris Stock (Penfield, N.Y.).

That would set the stage for the game-winner by Lauricella that would send the Blue Knights into the next round.

Beck finished with seven saves for the Owls, who were making their sixth appearance in the NCAAs in the past eight years. Stock had three saves for the Blue Knights who were making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.