KEENE, N.H. 11/7/09 - Senior midfielder Sarah Swann's (Oxford, Conn.) goal lifted second seed Eastern Conn. State University to a 1 -0 victory over host and top seed Keene State College in the Championship game of the 2009 Little East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

                Making its third straight and sixth appearance in the finals, ECSU (12-5-3) captures its third LEC crown.  They also won the title in 2003 and 2005.

                Keene State (14-6-2), making its eighth trip to the finals and first appearance since 2006, will now await a berth in the ECAC New England Tournament. KSC won LEC titles in 2002 and 2004.

                The Warriors, who finished the game with just four shots on net, got the game-winner at the 68:19 mark of the second half.   Sophomore Sam Konopka (Hebron, Conn.) sent a deep ball into the box.  Swan got a piece of the ball that took a bad bounce past KSC sophomore goalie Megan Dempsey (East Weymouth, Mass.) and into the net.  It was Swan's team-leading 14th goal of the season. 

                The Owls controlled play throughout the game, but were unable to get the ball past Warrior senior goalie Kim Church (Farmington, Conn.) who was selected as the Tournament's most outstanding player. 

                KSC had several chances to get on the board in the first half.  With Church out of position, junior Katie Bradford (Lebanon, N.H.) had a bid at the corner of the net at the 30:44 mark that was knocked away by Warrior junior defender Stephanie Norell (Stratford, Conn.).

                Minutes later, Bradford and sophomore Sia Karamourtopoulos (Fremont, N.H.) had consecutive shots clanged off the crossbar.  With 19:09 to go in the first half. Karamoutopoulos got a foot on a rebound off a shot by senior Kendra Spencer (Petoskey, Mich.)

                In the second half, Spencer had a free kick from 24-yards out that sailed over the crossbar and Bradford was off target with a close-range shot.

                Except for a strong crossing ball by junior Nora Mahoney (Belchertown, Mass.) and a chance at the corner of the net by Karamourtopoulos, the Warriors kept the Owls at bay throughout the second half, including the closing minutes when the Owls attempted to press for the equalizer.

                Dempsey finished the game with a couple of saves while Church stopped six Owl shots to earn her fourth shutout of the season.

                Keene State outshot the Warriors 15-4 and had a 3-1 advantage in corners.