KEENE, N.H. 9/2207 -  Junior Gareth Stephens (Yeovil, England) netted a pair of goals to lead rival Plymouth State University to a 4-1 victory over Keene State College in Little East men's soccer action on Saturday.

PSU (2-2-1, 1-1 LEC) picks up its first LEC win of the season.  It's the first time the Owls (2-4-2, 0-2 LEC) have dropped their first two conference games since joining the LEC in 1997.

After missing several scoring opportunities in the opening minutes of play, the Panthers capitalized at the 13:30 mark when Takeru Tanikawa (Shizuoka, Japan), found the back on a dead ball cross from Keith Whittemore (Holderness, N.H.).  PSU kept the pressure on and scored seven minutes later when Stephens converted a crossing pass from Alex Marin (Manchester, N.H.).

The Owls got one goal back before the end of the half at 28:23 on a rebound goal by Mike Vitone (East Greenwich, R.I.).

PSU got back its two goal advantage four minutes into the second half on Stephens second goal of the game.  He one-timed a crossing ball from Whittemore into the corner of the net.

KSC's Alex Horne (Harvard, Mass.) had a chance to make it a one goal game midway in the second half, but his drive from the top of the box banged off the far post Mike Cooley's (Northborough, Mass.) bid later in the half was stopped by PSU goalie Tyler Shute (Deerfield, N.H.) with a diving save.

PSC scored on two of its three shots in the second half. Adrian Burnett (Durham, Conn.) completed the scoring for the Panthers when he knocked in a cross from Tommy Schrey (Munich, Germany) with six minutes to play.
Cal Mintz (Westport, Conn.) stopped two shots for the Owls.  Shute finished the game with five saves for the Panthers.

KSC travels to Williams on Wednesday (4:15 p.m.).PSU hosts Worcester State on Wednesday (5 p.m.).