KEENE, N.H. 9/19/09 - Senior midfielder Mike Vitone (East Greenwich, R.I.) and freshman forward Shawn Shand (Keene, N.H.) each netted unassisted goals in the second half to lead Keene State College to a 2-0 victory over rival Plymouth State University in Little East Conference men's soccer action at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.

            Keene State, which had lost its last two regular season games to the Panthers, improves to (3-3, 1-0 LEC) while Plymouth State (4-1, 0-1 LEC) drops its first game of the season.

            "Coming off the loss last year, we knew we had to had to come out hard and that's we did," said Vitone. "The whole team came together and played with a lot of heart today." 

            "We've been preaching all week hard work, patience, and possession," said KSC Coach Ron Butcher. "I thought we played exceptionally well.  Winning our first LEC game of the season is a huge confidence booster for this team."

            Playing their first conference games of the season, KSC and PSU each had chances to get on the board in a quick-moving first half of play.  Keene State sophomore Joe Bohenek (Rockland, Mass.) had a drive that just went wide of the net following a corner. Later in the half, Shand cut in and took a shot that was just wide of the mark, and PSU freshman goalie Bjorn Ohlsson (Halmstad, Sweden) went air borne to stop a shot ticketed for the top corner by freshman Bobby Saraf (Canton, Mass.). 

            Senior Semir Mehmedovic (Zvornik, Bosnia) had the best chance for the Panthers with a mid-range shot that just went wide of the net.

            Keene State lost its top goalie Peter Kersker (Ipswich, Mass.) and Plymouth State lost the services of its top scorer Mehmedovic when both players were issued red cards following an altercation in front of the Owls net minutes into the second half.

            Shand had another chance to give the Owls a lead at the 37:52 mark of the half, but Ohlsson tipped his shot over the cross bar.

            Making his second start of the season, Vitone gave the Owls a 1-0 lead at the 52:48 mark when he floated a well-placed shot over the head Ohlsson after the ball came out to him following a corner play.  "I was outside of the box and got a lucky hit on it," said Vitone about his first goal of the season. 

            Shand scored a key insurance goal with eight minutes to play when he beat a Plymouth defender and drove the ball into the corner of the net for his third goal of the season. "My coach told me to take it one and one and that's what I did.  I accelerated and tucked it away."

            Keene State controlled midfield and never let the Panthers get a quality shot on net the entire game. "We held our own throughout the game, backed each other up when we needed to and never let them though," said freshman Cody Doyle (Swansea, Mass.), who stepped into the starting spot at sweeper. 

            Kersker made one save for KSC before giving way to junior Tom Conran (South Windsor, Conn.) who tallied two more saves.

            Ohlsson made three saves for the Panthers.

            Keene State outshot Plymouth 15-7. The Panthers had a slim 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.

            Both teams have non-conference games on Wednesday.  Keene State hosts Worcester State and Plymouth State is home against Bates College.