DANBURY, Conn. 10/24/10 – Behind Keene State College defender Blake Nyman's (Plymouth, Mass.) first career-goal in the 82nd minute, the Owls defeated the Western Conn. State Colonials 1-0 on Sunday afternoon to clinch home-field advantage in the Little East Conference tournament and at least a share of the regular-season title.

"I am ecstatic for the guys right now," said KSC head coach Ron Butcher. "We know now that we will be home on November third in the LEC Semifinals and that's huge for us because we play well at home."

In the first half of play, the difference-maker was WestConn's freshman keeper Jack Holub (Sherman, CT).  In addition to making several acrobatic saves, Holub denied two Keene State scoring chances by charging the oncoming Owl attacker and stealing the ball before a shot was taken. "This game was the tale of two completely different halves," said KSC head coach Ron Butcher. "In the first half we had plenty of chances and couldn't score because their goalie made some nice plays."

Shots early in the second half by seniors Daniel DaSilva (Danbury, CT) and Luis Duque (Naugatuck, CT) changed the momentum in WestConn's favor.  The Colonial's repeatedly attacked the Keene State defense and outshot the Owls by a 13-2 margin over the final 45 minutes.  WestConn also held a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks in the second half, but were unable to find the net."In the second-half we couldn't get the ball out of our zone," said Butcher. "We got the one that counted and that's all that matters."

Although their chances were limited in the final period, the Owls took advantage when a scramble in front of the WestConn goal resulted in Keene State's Ryan Murphy (Monson, Mass.) chipping the ball to Nyman who punched it past a diving Holub to put the Owls on the board. For the game, WestConn finished with an 18-12 advantage in shots and a 9-6 edge in shots on goal. 

Holub finished with five saves in goal for WestConn, but suffers the loss, while Paul Blackmer (Boyalston, MA) made nine saves to record the shutout for Keene State. "I thought Blackmer played great for us," said Butcher. "He made some nice saves when it counted and got the shutout."

With the loss, WestConn's season record falls to 3-10-1 and 1-5 in the Little East Conference.  Keene State now stands at 11-4-2 and 5-0-1 in the LEC.

KSC returns to action Saturday, when they will face Southern Maine at 1 p.m. Before the start of the game, the Owls will celebrate senior day for the class of 2011.