'WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. 11/13/05 - The Keene State College men's soccer team saw its 2005 season come to an end with a hard-fought 2-0 shutout loss to Williams College at Williamstown, Mass., on Sunday afternoon.

John Hillman (La Jolla, Ca.) and Patrick Huffer (Boulder, Co.) scored second half goals for the Ephs (15-2), which advance to the sectional finals where they will face St. Lawrence University.  It was the first time Keene State (13-4-3) had advanced to the New England region championship game.

Both teams had good scoring opportunities in a scoreless first half.  KSC goalie Cal Mintz (Westport, Conn.) made a diving save on a bid by Hillman at the 24:20 mark and later tipped a shot by Mike Darling (Charlton, Mass.) over the cross bar.  Sophomore midfielder Ralph Rocco (Groton, Mass.) had the Owls' best opportunity to score, but his drive from 10-yards out was stopped by Nick Armington (Wenham, Mass.) with 3:20 to play. Armington finished the game with three saves.

The Owls were hurt by the loss of freshman forward Alex Horne (Harvard, Mass.) who left the game with an ankle injury at the 12:30 mark.  He came out for the second half, but then had to return to the bench. 

Williams finally broke though with a goal just 1:04 into the second half. Brett Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) found a streaking Hillman on the right side who fired a shot into the far left corner of the goal.

Mintz kept it a one goal game with several spectacular saves, robbing the Eph's Huffer and Josh Bolton (Penfield, N.Y.) from close range.  At the 26 minute mark of the second half, KSC defender Kyle Wood (Manchester, Conn.) was given his second yellow card of the game forcing the Owls to play a man-down the rest of the contest.

Williams finally capitalized on the man advantage at the 83:39 mark when Huffer scored on a rebound from a Bolton shot.  With the Eph's utilizing an extra defender, KSC had just five shots in the half.

KSC Coach Ron Butcher said his team had little in its tank following a tough 4-1 win over Wheaton College on Saturday.  "We had a much tougher game yesterday then they did," he said.  "When Horne got hurt that put us under the gun, and obviously you can't play Williams a man down. 

"We made two mistakes and Williams took advantage both times. But give Williams credit.  They're still the team to beat in the region."

 "I thought we had a chance even with a man down," Butcher added.  "But we kept fighting and that's all you can ask of any team."

Mintz finished the game with a season- high 13 saves.  "The defense helped me out all year and today it was my turn to come up with some big saves," he said.  "Hopefully we can make a run at it next year."

One of six seniors on the team, back Mike Lewis said it was difficult guarding the Williams forwards a man down.  "We had just three backs and you're basically guarding two players at the whole time," he said. "We did what we could, and Cal definitely came up big and kept us in the game."

"I'm proud of my team," said Lewis reflecting on his last Owl game.  "I couldn't have played any harder and our team couldn't have played harder."

"It was tough," added Wood, a senor defender.  "Everyone tried their best, but we had nothing left after yesterday. But I think we gave it our best shot."