'KEENE, N.H. 9/23/06 - Eric Scott's (West Springfield, Mass.) goal at the 71:07 mark of the second half was the difference in Keene State College's 2-1 victory over the University of Southern Maine in Little East men's soccer action at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday. 

Settling the ball, Scott blasted a shot in the far corner of the net from 24-yards out to put KSC a head 2-1. "I hit the ball perfect," said Scott, about his fourth goal of the season. "I knew it was going in right away. "We struggled putting the ball in the net today.  We're disappointed with the way we played, but we got the W."

"We're just not tough enough right now," added KSC Coach Ron Butcher. "We should've won by a wider margin, but missed numerous one-on-one chances.  It's a conference win, but we got to play better against Williams to have a chance on Wednesday night."

Ranked 14th nationally and second in the region, KSC improves to 7-1 (2-0 LEC). USM falls to 4-5 (0-2 LEC).

Ralph Rocco (Groton, Mass.) gave Keene State an early 1-0 lead when he finished off a through pass from Jeremy Kelsey (Gilford, N.H.) at the 4:21 mark.

KSC had several opportunities to extend its lead, but Husky goalie Chris Willard (Willimantic, Conn.) made a saves on a shots by Alex Horne (Havard, Mass.) and Pelse  Mesa (Manchester, N.H.) and Eric Scott (West Springfield, Mass.) put a drive over the cross bar. 

USM had a chance to tie the score midway in the second half, but Owl goalie Cal Mintz (Westport, Conn.) made a diving save on a redirected header by Sinisa Bajic (Belgrade, Serbia).

Later in the half, Mesa' s point blank shot was stopped by Willard.

The Huskies knotted the game at the 68:52 mark when Greg Cox (Brookline, Mass.) put his own rebound by Mintz for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.  Scott got the game-winner three minutes later for the Owls.

Mintz had four saves for the Owls.  Willard finished with 14 saves for the Huskies.

Keene State hosts Williams College in a battle of nationally ranked teams on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.). USM plays at Colby on Wednesday (4 p.m.).