'KEENE, N.H.  10/31/06 - Steph Georgevits' (Concord, N.H.) second half goal was the difference as top seed Keene State College held on for a 1-0 win over eighth seed Salem State College in a quarterfinal Little East Conference field hockey game played at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.

Winners of eight straight, Keene State (16-4) advances to the semifinals, and will host fourth-seed Worcester State on Thursday (6 p.m.) Worcester defeated fifth seed Bridgewater State 8-1 in its first round game.

Georgevits goal, her 11th of the season, came on a rebound following a shot by Kat Trimmer (Worcester, Mass.).

KSC goalie Sara Joyce (Hampstead, N.H.), made the one goal lead stand up.  The senior made several sensational saves on the way to picking up her eighth shutout of the season.   She finished the game with 12 saves.

Keene State, which handily defeated Salem 5-1 on Sunday, had trouble against putting a way the upset-minded Vikings. "They came out more aggressive than we did," said KSC coach Amy Watson.  "Fortunately, we made some changes at the half and it worked out for us. They out-hustled us.  We had to work for it."

Christina Ferriera (Milford, Mass.) finished the game with two saves for Salem State which concludes its season with a 7-10 record.

Keene State is the defending LEC Tournament champions.