KEENE, N.H.  9/30/08 - An own goal scored by the Ephs at the 10:34 mark of the first half stood up as the difference as #21 ranked Williams College posted to a 1-0 shutout victory over host Keene State College in non-conference men's soccer action at Owl Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.

With the loss, Keene State falls to 3-5-2.  Williams improves to 5-1.

Despite the loss, KSC Coach Ron Butcher was proud of his team's performance.  "We got a great effort out of the team.  We gave up a goal due to a miscue in the back, but I thought our guys played hard with a lot of emotion. "

"The whole second half we had the ball in their end and had pressure on them, but that's been our problem all year.  We just can't score goals, Butcher added.  "But if we play like this in the conference, we might surprise some people in the end."

The Owls had a pair good scoring opportunities in the early going denied by Williams goalie Andrew Graham (Northbrook, Ill.).  He smothered a direct kick by Owl junior back Nate Gaughan (Harwington, Conn.) and then made a diving save on a drive by senior forward Alex Horne (Harvard, Mass.).

Despite KSC's early pressure, Williams would score the only time in the game with an own goal at the 10:44 mark.  A crossing ball by the Ephs' Charles Romero (Mansfield, Mass.) was accidently knocked into the net by an Owl defender.

The Owls had a chance to get the equalizer just before the end of the half, but freshman forward Quinton McMillian's rebound shot slid just wide of the post at the 1:01 mark.

Williams almost added to its lead in the opening minutes of the second half when forward Gaston Kelly's (Hingham, Mass.) hit a shot off the post.

KSC goalie Peter Kersker (Beverly, Mass.) kept it a one goal game with a diving save off the foot of Eph forward Pierre Meloty-Kapella (Redwood City, Ca.) at the 22:37 mark. Kersker was back up in the air minutes later to handle a drive by Romero.  He later stayed on the ground to stop a break-in from Romero.

Kersker finished the game with five saves.  Graham stopped six shots for his first shutout of the season.

The game was called with 16 seconds to play, when a KSC defender hauled down an Ephs player attempting to break-in alone and an altercation between the two teams ensued.

Keene State returns to Little East play on Saturday when it hosts defending conference champs Eastern Conn. (1:30 p.m.) in a rematch of last year's LEC title game.