KEENE, N.H. 11/4/08 - Top seeded Keene State College scored two first half goals and held on for a 2-0 shutout victory over eighth seed Bridgewater State College in a quarterfinal Little East Conference field hockey game played in Keene on Tuesday night.

Keene State (16-5), shooting for its fifth straight LEC championship, host fourth seed Southern Maine in a semifinal match-up on Thursday at 5 p.m.  USM edged fifth seed Salem State 2-1 in its first-round game.

Senior forward Liz Rand (Peterborough, N.H.) redirected a shot by junior midfielder Erin Dallas (Marlow, N.H.) past BSC sophomore goalie Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) off a corner play to give KSC an early 1-0 lead. 

"I was at the right place at the right time. Dallas sent the ball to the post, just like shed does in practice," said Rand, about her seventh goal of the season.  "We needed to bounce back after losing on Saturday."

Junior forward Carly Benning (Brewster, Mass.) made it a 2-0 game at the 11:48 mark of the half when she scored on a rebound for her team-leading 12th goal of the season.

Owl junior goalie Vikki Stoessel (Derry, N.H.) finished with four saves to post her fifth shutout of the season.  Weber stopped six shots for the Bears, who wrap up their season with a 7-11 record.