Keene, N.H. 10/3/09 - Led by a two-goal effort from senior forward Carly Benning (Brewster, Mass.), the Keene State College field hockey team upended the Colonials of Western Connecticut State 3-0 Saturday afternoon at Owl Athletic Complex.

The Owls (8-3 overall, 3-2 LEC) earned their eighth victory by way of the shutout on the season and outshot the Colonials (3-8 overall, 1-4 LEC) 18-7 on the game.

Benning got the scoring started when she took a cross from senior Tara Murphy (Derry, N.H.) and beat West Conn. goaltender Heather Stone (Valhalla, N.Y.) for the 1-0 Owl lead at the 16:29 mark.

Keene State extended their lead to 2-0 just under seven minutes later when sophomore forward Elizabeth Coffin (Sugar Hill, N.H.) received a lead pass from Aislynn Sherry (Rehobeth, Mass.) for her fifth goal of the season.

West Conn. had their best scoring chance of the game a few minutes into the second half when Leandra Zaklukiewicz (Little Falls, N.Y.) rifled a shot just past KSC goaltender Vikki Stoessel (Derry, N.H.) but senior captain Lindy Caslin (Bennington, Vermont) stopped the ball from rolling into the ball and tried to clear the ball out of the zone. Colonial forward Stephanie Szafran (Killingworth, Conn.) took the ball away from the Owl defense and ripped of shot of her own, only to have it set aside by Stoessel.

Benning added her second marker of the game at the 54:07 mark off a breakaway pass from sophomore midfielder Alyce Ferenc (Rumney, N.H.) for the 3-0 LEC victory.

Stoessel set aside four shots in the shutout victory, while Stone stopped 10 shots in the losing effort.

Keene State will host in-state rival Plymouth State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. while the Colonials will host Framingham State at 6 p.m.