PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Senior Gareth Stephens
(Yeovil, England) scored his second game-winning goal of the year
with six minutes remaining Sunday afternoon, breaking a 2-2
deadlock and sending Plymouth State University to a 3-2 victory
over Keene State College in a Little East Conference men's soccer
match at Panther Field.
PSU scored the first goal of the game, but had to battle from
behind after Keene State had come back with two unanswered
goals. The outcome gives PSU its first conference win of the
season as the Panthers improve to 3-5-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the
LEC, while Keene State drops to 3-4-2 overall and 0-2-0 in the
Little East.
Senior Semir Mehmedovic (Concord, N.H.) put the home team on the
board midway through the opening frame. KSC came back to tie
the game with just over five minutes to play in the half on senior
Alex Horne's (Harvard, Mass.) team-leading sixth
goal of the season. It was the 43rd career goal for Horne,
tying him for fifth on KSC's all-time list.
Keene State wasted little time in taking a second-half lead as
freshman Jon Fothergill (Merrimack, N.H.) scored
for the Owls less than five minutes in. PSU got the equalizer
when freshman Dre Cabral (Tokyo, Japan) knocked in a header for his
first career goal off a nicely served ball from Mehmedovic.
The score stayed tied until Stephens picked up a loose ball in the
box and fired it into the net for the eventual game-winner.
Stephens also had a big game against rival Keene State last year,
scoring two goals in a 4-1 Panther win. He also scored the
game-winner against Potsdam State with two minutes remaining in
this year's season opener.
Keene State finished with a narrow 10-9 advantage in shots.
Owl junior keeper Peter Kersker (Ipswich, Mass.)
made five saves and Panther senior keeper Tyler Shute (Deerfield,
N.H.) made four.
"We didn't match their intensity," said KSC Coach Ron
Butcher. "They out-hustled and out-run us and deserve the
victory."
PSU is on the road for its next game Wednesday for a non-conference
affair at Worcester State College (4:00 p.m.), while Keene State
returns home to host Williams College on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.)
(Courtesy PSU Sports Information)
