KEENE, N.H. 11/4/09 - Sophomore midfielder  Ebenezer Vicente's (Praia Cape Verde) goal at the 6:30 mark of first overtime lifted fourth seed UMass-Dartmouth to a 2-1 upset win over top seed Keene State College in a Little East semifinal tournament men's soccer game at Owl Athletic Complex on Wednesday night.

Vicente ended the hard-fought game when he chipped a shot over Keene State senor goalie Peter Kersker (Ipswich, Mass.)  into the net. It was the second time the Corsairs have had the better of the Owls. UMD gave KSC its only LEC regular season loss back on Oct.10.    The Corsairs (10-6-2) advance to the championship game on Saturday against second seed Eastern Conn.  The Warriors defeated third seed Rhode Island College 2-0 in the other semifinal game. UMass-Dartmouth will be making its first trip to the finals since 2000.

Keene State (13-7) will await a possible berth to the ECAC tournament.

KSC Coach Ron Butcher said the momentum changed for the Owls at the midway point of the second half.  "We made a couple of chances, and it was like the whole world caved in on us," he said.  "We had our chances in overtime, but against good teams in tournament time when you don't put the shots away it come back and bite you."

"We still had a heck of a year," he said.  "We came back from the dead to be on the top seed, so I'm proud of our guys."

The Corsairs' Kyle Lopes (Somerset, Mass.) had the first good scoring opportunity in the game.  Kersker had to go down to his knees to stop his low hard drive from just outside the box. Minutes later, junior Jason Cuoto (Somerset, Mass.) had a free kick that curled around the box, but Kersker was able to handle.  

Ross Stanton (Bethlehem, N.Y.) had one of the few strong scoring chances for the Owls with 11:15 to go in the half. Following a throw-in, the senior midfielder headed a shot toward the net, but UMD freshman goalie Mike Phelan (Carver, Mass.) went airborne to nock his shot over the crossbar.

The Owls maintained pressure in the Corsair side of the field and cashed-in with the first goal of the game. Taking a free kick from the center of the field, junior back Rob Musto (Guilford, Conn.) sent the ball into the box where sophomore forward Jon Fothergill (Merrimack, N.H.) headed home  it home  to give the Owls a 1-0 lead at the 37:17 mark.

Looking for the equalizer, Cuoto let fly a short drive from the right corner, but Kersker held the post and stopped his shot with a diving save at the 33:29 mark.   Minutes later, the Corsairs assaulted the Owls with a flurry of shots.  Only the final shot by Cuoto reached the net and Kersker was able to grab the ball.

The Corsairs would be denied.  The tied up the score on at the 66:15 mark when Cuoto finished off a crossing ball from senior Jarred Goldstein (Weymouth, Mass.).

The Corsairs were awarded a penalty kick when the Owls were called for a foul in the box.  Goldstein took the PK but his bid for the go-ahead goal was stopped by a prone Kersker, diving to the left side and getting a piece of his shot.

Kersker came up big again for the owls when he went up in the air to get a piece of sophomore Bruno Araguo's (Marlboro, Mass.) shot with four minutes to play.

Just checking into the game a few minutes into the overtime, freshman Shaun Shand (Keene, N.H.) had a chance to put the Owls ahead, but he just missed connecting on a crossing ball from Fothergill.

However, Vincente wouldn't miss hi opportunity to send the Corsairs into the championship.

Kersker was sensational in the Owls net, finishing with eight saves.   Phlean stopped three shots for the Corsairs.  UMD led in shots 23-14 and 5-3 in corners.