'BOSTON, MA 10/29/05- The Keene State College men's soccer team clinched its third consecutive Little East Conference regular-season championship, and its fifth title in the last seven years, with a 3-0 shutout victory over UMass-Boston on a snow covered  Clark Athletic Center Field on Saturday.

Keene State (12-2-3, 6-0-1), the top seed in the LEC Tournament, will play fourth seed Western Conn. State University in a semifinal game on Wednesday (2 p.m.) at Sumner Joyce Field.  The Beacons fall to 7-7-2 (0-5-2 in the LEC).

"You play all season for home field advantage, "said KSC Coach Ron Butcher.  We've actually played better on the road this season, but we'll gladly take the home field,-this team certainly deserves it."

Freshman forward Mike Cooley (Northborough, Mass.) netted two goals and added an assist to lead the Keene State to the win.  Following a scoreless first half, Keene State wasted no time getting on the board in the second half when Ralph Rocco (Groton, Mass.) crossed to Cooley for the first goal of the game just 53 seconds into the second stanza.  The Owls struck again less than three minutes later when Cooley found Eric Scott (West Springfield, Mass.) to give them a 2-0 advantage at the 48:23 mark of the second half. It was Scott's team-leading 12th goals of the season. Cooley capped the scoring for Keene State, with his second goal of the game and 11th of the season, when he took a pass from Caleb Patterson and found the back of the net at 70:04 mark.

 Cal Mintz (Westport, Conn.) made seven saves in 81:30 of action and Scott Pannone (Wolcott, Conn.) turned away two shots in the final 8:30 of play for the Owls. Paul Maniscalco (Boston, MA) stopped seven shots for UMass Boston.