CANTON, N.Y. 9/6/09 - After grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first half on Shawn Shand's (Keene, N.H.) second goal of the season, the Keene State College men's soccer team fell to Clarkson University 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the St. Lawrence University Lotto Tournament in Canton, N.Y.

The loss drops the Owls to 1-2 on the season, while the win improves Clarkson to 3-0.

Keene State got on the scoreboard at the 26:37 mark when Shand scored on a penalty kick beating Golden Knights goalie Adam Lamoureux to give the Owls the 1-0 advantage heading into the half.

After that it was all Clarkson, as Mark Secko took a pass from Matias Pena and beat the Keene State defenders and senior goalie Peter Kersker (Ipswich, Mass.) to even the game at one at the 61:58 mark.

The Owls had a chance to pull ahead, but a breakaway shot by freshman Joe Senecal (Manchaug, Mass.) went wide of the net.

The Golden Knights would take the lead for good with just under seven minutes remaining as Scott Desmond would find Andrew Ensinger in the middle of the box and give Clarkson the 2-1 non-conference victory.

KSC Coach Ron Butcher said it was a disheartening performance by his team.  "You can't play a man down for 80 minutes against a team the caliber of Clarkson," he said.  "We were inconsistant and never got in the flow of the game.  We'll need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a different plan against Springfield." 

Kersker set aside 10 shots in the loss for Keene State, while Lamoureux and Saverno Spagnola combined for six saves in the win for Clarkson.

The Owls outshot the Golden Knights 9-7 in the first half, but Clarkson held the advantage in the second half 12-6.

Keene State was also given five yellow cards and a red card in the loss.

The Owls return to the field, Wednesday, September 9th, as they will host Springfield College at Owl Athletic Complex for 6:30 p.m.