KEENE, N.H.  10/15/08 - Senior forward Alex Horne's (Harvard, Mass.) penalty kick goal with just under six minutes to play lifted the Keene State men's soccer team to a 3-2 non-conference victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday night.

It was the first win by KSC (4-7-3) in five games.  RPI (9-3-1) lost for the first time in six games, a stretch where they hadn't given up a goal.

The Owls won despite playing almost the second half a man down  after senior back Stephen Attardo (Braintree, Mass.) was issued his second yellow card of the game at the 40:48 mark.

RPI got on the board with an own goal at the 52:59 mark of the second half. A cross by Red Hawk junior forward Jabel Prom (Sandy Springs, MD.) was knocked into the net by an Owl defender.

RPI had a couple of chances to increase their lead.  Owl senior goalie Scott Pannone (Wolcott, Conn.), who was making his first start of the season, made a diving save on a close-range shot by junior midfielder Michael Long (Hopkinton, N.H.) and a header by junior back Kevin Swift (Clifton Park, N.Y.) went just wide of the post.

The Owls tied the game at the 67:55 mark when junior midfielder Ross Stanton (Bethlehem, N.Y.) fired a loose ball into the corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

The Red Hawks regained the lead less than two minutes later when freshman forward Andrew Tambasco (Clifton Park, N.Y.) put in a rebound.

At the right place at the right time, sophomore midfielder Luke Sisco (Pine Plains, N.Y.) tied the game at 2-all when he scored on a rebound at the 77:47 mark.

"Alex (Horne) ripped one at the keeper and it popped right out to me and I buried it," said Sisco.  "It was a weight lifted right off our shoulders."

Pannone kept the game tied when he challenged Red Hawk junior midfielder Sean Fleury (Princeton, Mass.) coming out of the corner and got a piece of his shot.

The Owls got a break when a Red Hawk defender committed a foul in the box.  Horne took the penalty kick and buried the ball into the top left corner of the net for the game-winner.    "I knew I had to bury it.  I missed one previously against Wheaton and I felt that was a big turning point for us," said Horne about his team-leading seventh goal of the season.   "This was another tuning point, so I better take advantage of it."

In the closing seconds of the game, a shot by RPI freshman forward Jordan Ward (Derry, N.H.) was stopped by Pannone, who finished the game with six saves.

Sophomore goalie Alex Penny (Northport, N.Y.) finished the game with two saves for RPI, who are coached by former Owl player Adam Clinton.

Both teams had quality chances to get on the board in a scoreless first half.

Junior midfielder Michael Long (Hopkinton, NH.) had a chance to give RPI an early lead, but his direct kick from 22-yards out was knocked aside by Pannone.

Later in the half, senior forward Horne countered with a hard drive from the left side of the box that was smothered by Penny.

"We needed something to pick us up," said Sisco.  "We have a conference game on Saturday. Hopefully this will get us going."

"We have five games left, every game counts," said Horne.  "The LEC might not be in the picture or it might be.  We're still going to work hard.  There's no point in giving up.

Keene State travels to UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday for a 1 p.m. LEC game.