KEENE, N.H. 9/19/07 - Keene State College and Babson College battled to a scoreless tie in a non-conference men's soccer game played Wednesday night at Owl Athletic Complex.

Keene State goes to 2-3-2.  Babson (5-1-1), ranked sixth in New England, is undefeated in its last four games.  
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first half. A minute into the game, KSC's Ben Allenet (Lanfains, France) broke in, but his shot just went wide of the far post. Later in the half,  Babson's Kevin Owens (Boulder, Colo.) bid was stopped by Owl goalie Cal Mintz (Westport, Conn.) and the Beaver's Garrett Bates (Norwell, Mass.) shot sailed over the crossbar.

A back- and- forth struggle the remainder of the half included missed shots by KSC's Alex Horne (Harvard Mass.), and two failed attempts from Babson's Jonny Hakala (New Ipswich, N.H.).

Babson had an unsuccessful bid early in the second after a nice passing play from Timothy Winn (Sutton, Mass) to Sam Ensslin (Pen Argyl, Pa.), whose shot was stopped on a diving save by the Owl goalie Cal Mintz (Westport, Conn.). 
 

Horne had the best chance of the night for the Owls.  Sent in by Mike Cooley's header, the junior forward broke in alone, but his sliding shot was handled by Beaver goalie Chris Nicklas (Guilford, Conn.). Nicklas finished with seven saves.

With five minutes left in the game, Mintz punched out a shot by Babson's Daniel Fogarty (Brookline, N.H.).

Mintz, who finished with six saves, preserved the tie for the Owls when he tipped Harrison  Heller's (Fort Wayne, Ind.) drive from 25-yards out over the cross bar with three minutes to go in the second overtime period. "I was just trying to do my job," said Mintz, who notched his first shutout of the season and 11 of his career.  "The guys did a good job in front of me tonight."

"We had a couple of hard practices and the players responded with a good effort tonight," said KSC Coach Ron Butcher.  "Now we just have to find a way to score."

It was the Owls' first scoreless tie since the 2004 season against Westfield State.

Keene State hosts rival Plymouth State on Saturday (1 p.m.).