KEENE, N.H.  10/22/11 – Scott Douglas might stand 5-foot, 7 inches, but the sophomore forward is coming up big for the Keene State men's soccer team.  For the second straight game, Douglas, a sophomore from East Greenwich, R.I., notched a three-goal hat trick to lead the Owls to a key 4-2 Little East Conference victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.

Extending its winning streak to a season high four games, Keene State (9-6-1, 4-2 LEC) secures a spot in the upcoming four-team LEC tournament. It was the second consecutive loss for the Corsairs, who fall to 9-6-1 and 3-2-1 in league play.

Douglas, who becomes the first Owl to have a hat trick in consecutive  games, sliced and diced his way through the Corsair defense, scoring all three of his goals in the first half.  His first goal came at the 10:02 mark when he took a feed from senior Cam Blair (Keene, N.H.) and tucked the ball off the post and into the far corner of the net.

UMass-Dartmouth tied the game 54 seconds later when sophomore Alex Machado's (New Bedford, Mass.) free kick deflected off a KSC defender and into the net.

Junior back Blake Nyman (Plymouth, Mass.) kept it a tie game with key defensive play at the 23:11 mark.  KSC sophomore goalie Malcolm Cheney (Hopkinton, Mass.) stopped a break-in bid by freshman Elton Borges (Praia, Cape Verde).  Freshman Nick Gontijo (Hudson, Mass.) jumped on the rebound and was ready to put the ball into the open net, but Nyman slid over and blocked his shot.  "It was just anticipation.  I saw the ball pop back out to the PK spot and I knew it was my responsibility to stop it," said Nyman. I got lucky." 

Douglas took over for there, pouncing on a rebound and firing a left-footed shot past UMD junior keeper Mike Phelan (Carver, Mass.) to make it 2-1.  He completed his natural hat trick less than a minute later when he took a lead pass from freshman Brett Sullivan (Barrington, R.I.) and dribbled around Phelan and put the ball into the net for his ninth goal of the season.  "I had a couple of good balls and I was able to finish," said Douglas.  It was a big conference game and we came out with a lot of energy and it paid off. We knew we had to win the game."

"Scotty has been coming on,' said KSC Coach Ron Butcher.  "He was injured the first part of the season.  Now he's in shape and now he's pulling the trigger."

Sophomore Danny Silverman (Maynard, Mass.) gave KSC a 4-1 lead four minutes into the second half.  Standing to the right side of the goal, junior Joe Senecal (Manchaug, Mass.) headed the ball over to Silverman, who one-timed the ball into the net for his third goal of the season. 

Borges made it a two goal game at the 65:18 mark when he directed a pass from sophomore Kyle Duarte (New Bedford, Mass.) into the net to cut the Owls' lead to 4-2.

The Corsairs went on the offensive looking to get back in the game.  One of their best chances came with 3:39 to play.  In a couple of bang-bang plays, Cheney stopped a close-range shot by junior Brady Paradis (Tiverton, R.I.) and the Owls' defense blocked Borges' rebound bid.  "Anytime you go up 4-1 in a game there's going to be lapses," said Nyman.  It's all about how you deal with the game when things aren't going your way." 

"We held the fort," said Butcher.  "When you play those types of team, you know you're going to get blistered." 

UMass-Dartmouth outshot Keene State 25-21 in the tough, physical game. 

Cheney finished the game with five saves while Phelan stopped eight shots for the Corsairs.

The game marked the first time that KSC freshman Nate Banas and older brother junior Zach Banas, both from Monson, Mass., went up against each other on the soccer field.  "I never played against him before in a game, so it was exciting," said Nate. "In the first half they put him over on my side so he could go at me, but he's not going to get by me."

"We just hoping they wouldn't hurt each other and we would get to watch the whole game and not have to go to the hospital, said a smiling mother Vicky Banas, who wore a navy UMD jacket and a red KSC scarf."

KSC and UMD have hooked up in several hard fought games the past few years. Last season, the two teams tied (1-1) during the regular season and had to replay a semifinal tournament game (eventually won by KSC 2-1) after the NCAA ruled an inadvertent whistle affected the outcome in the first game. "Obviously, there's a lot of emotional attachment with UMass-Dartmouth considering what happened last year," said Nyman. "We called a team-meeting last night to explain to the guys that this game was do-or-die.  Now we control our own destiny. We're going to be a tough team in the tournament." 

Keene State is at RPI on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. non-conference game. UMD travels to Bridgewater State on Tuesday (3:30 p.m.).