'KEENE, N.H. 11/9/06 - A late second half goal by Renee Halsey (Francestown, N.H.) lifted third seed Keene State College to a 1-0 victory over sixth seed Bridgewater State College in a first-round game of the ECAC Division III New England Women's Soccer Tournament at Owl Athletic Complex on Thursday.

Keene State (15-8), the defending ECAC champs, advances to a semifinal game at second seed Springfield College on Saturday (3 p.m.).  It will be the first meeting between the Owls and Pride since the 1997 season.  Top seed Smith College will face fourth seed Brandeis University in the other semifinal match up.  The two semifinal winners will meet Sunday for the title at the highest remaining seed.

Halsey's game-winning goal, her sixth of the season, came at the 77:43 mark of the second half.  Taking a pass from Kendra Spencer (Petoskey, Mich.), Halsey let go a drive from 25-yards out that went over BSC goalie Emily Schlosser (Petersham, Mass.) head and landed just under the cross bar. 

Halsey gave Spencer credit for setting up the goal.  "I wouldn't have scored the goal without Kendra's perfect through pass," Halsey said. "I just shot it hoping for the best."

Following a scoreless first half, the Bears have several opportunities to get on the board.  Katie Neary (Abington, Mass.) had a couple of good scoring chances that were stopped by Owl goalie Liz Rosen (Swanzey, N.H.).

"It wasn't one of our best performances, but we'll take the win," said KSC coach Denise Lyons.  "Hopefully we'll play better against Springfield on Saturday.  The important thing at this point of the season is to keep winning."

Rosen stopped six shots for her seventh shutout of the season.  Schlosser finished with eight saves for Bridgewater State (9-7-4), which was making its first appearance in the tournament.