KEENE, N.H. 11/5/04 - Courtney Gately's (Canton, Mass.) goal at the 6:26 mark of the first overtime lifted top seed Keene State College to a dramatic 3-2 victory over fourth seed Southern Maine in a semifinal game of the Little East Conference women's soccer tournament in Keene on Friday.

Keene State (12-5-2) advances to Saturday's final (noon) when they will face Eastern Conn. which tied Western Conn., 1-1, but won in penalty kicks 5-4. Following a corner kick from Michelle Harmon (Nashua, N.H.), Gatley pounced on a loose ball and knocked it into the net for the game-winner.

"The ball came into the box and I just dove at it," said Gately. "It went in the net, that's all that counts." "I give Southern Maine a lot of credit for coming back," said KSC Coach Denise Lyons. "It was scary. The game could have gone either way, but fortunately we made it to the finals. After a scoreless first half, Keene State opened up a 2-0 lead. The Owls' first goal was a fine individual effort by Katie Stevens (Londonderry, N.H.). Breaking in alone, her first shot deflected off a USM defender. She picked up the loose ball and fired it on goal. Marcy Ansley (Hudson, Mass.) made the save, but she couldn't hold onto the ball which slid into the net.

Renee Halsey (Francestown, N.H.) doubled KSC's lead with her first goal of the season. Halsey took a centering pass from Harmon and blasted the ball into the net.

The Huskies quickly answered with two goals within a 1:45 span. Liz Brunton (Birch Harbor, Me.) collected a free ball and put it into the far corner to cut the lead in half with her team-leading 12th goal of the season. Later, Eva Hanson (Warner, N.H.) picked up a loose ball on a corner kick and fired the ball into the net to knot the score with 8:38 to play.

That set the stage for Gatley's deciding goal in overtime.

Michelle Mason (Fairport, N.Y) had two saves for KSC while Ansley stopped seven shots for USM (8-8-4), which was making its first trip to the semifinals since the 2000 season.

Keene State, which captured the LEC title in 2002, will be making its sixth straight appearance in the finals.

KEENE, N.H. 11/5/04- Second seed Eastern Conn. and third seed Western Conn. battled to a 1-1 tie in a Little East Conference women's soccer tournament semifinal game in Keene, N.H. on Friday. Eastern Conn. moves on to the finals by outscoring Western Conn. 5-4 in penalty kicks.

With penalty kicks knotted 4-4; Stacey Nunes (Naugatuck, Conn.) had her shot tipped over the net by ECSU goalie Allison Sumecki (Northford, Conn.). Carrie Fleischer (Tolland, Conn.) then stepped to the line and scored to give the Warriors the winning goal.

ECSU, the defending LEC Tournament champs, will face top seed Keene State in the finals on Saturday (noon.). It is a rematch of last year's title game won by Eastern in penalty kicks.

Western Conn. had a chance to take an early lead 10 minutes into the game, but ECSU goalie Allison Sumecki (Northford, Conn.) made a great save on Nicole Corbin's (Clinton, Conn.).drive just inside the box.

Eastern Conn. came back to take a 1-0 lead at the 30:17 mark when Meghann Booth (Windsor Locks, Conn.) lofted a shot to the WCSU net. The ball slipped through the finger tips of goalie Ashley Griffin (Newington, Conn.) into the goal.

Jessica Gomes (Wallingford, Conn.) had a chance to get the equalizer in the closing minutes of the first half for the Colonials, but her shot sailed over the crossbar.

Western Conn. got the equalizer at the 68:47 mark of the second half. After Calie Carter (Lebanon, N.H.) was taken down in the box, Ashley Prescott (Norwalk, Conn.) scored on a penalty shot. Kim Crayco (Bolton, Conn.) had a chance to win it for the Colonials with 3:55 to play, but her shot was stopped by Sumecki.

Sumecki had eight saves for ECSU (15-4-1) while Ashley Griffin (Newington, Conn.) stopped six shots for WCSU (15-6-1).