KEENE, N.H. 9/24/11 – The Keene State College women's soccer team exploded for six first half goals en route to a dominating 6-0 Little East Conference shutout victory over the University of Southern Maine at a hot and humid Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.

           The win was the fourth straight for the Owls who improve to 6-3-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the conference.  The Huskies dropped their third straight to slip to 2-6-0 overall and 0-2-0 in LEC play.

            Keene State didn't waste any time getting on the board, scoring just 45 seconds into the game.  A pair of sophomore hooked up for the first goal.  Racing down the right side, Haley Kenyon (Exeter, R.I.) sent a crossing ball to Kara Pavlidis (Lee, N.H.) who knocked the ball into the net for her first goal of the season.

            Sophomore Jessica Berthiaume (Worcester, Mass.) took over for there, netting two goals in a two minute span to put the Owls up 3-0.  Senior defender Melissa Dempsey set up her first goal with a free kick into the box at the 17:36 mark.  A lead pass by sophomore Kelsie Bailey (Barre, Vt.) sent Berthiaume in alone for her second goal.  Leading the team with six goals, Berthiaume has scored four goals in the last two games for the Owls. 

            Bottled up in their own end most of the half, Southern Maine's best opportunity to score came with 19:59 to play on a corner play when freshman Morgan Libby's  (Brunswick, Maine) header was stopped by KSC senior goalie Megan Dempsey (East Weymouth, Mass.).

            Keene State went back of the offensive the rest of the half, scoring three more goals.  Junior Brittany Croteau (Swanzey, N.H.)  bent a shot into the left top corner from 30 yards out to make it 4-0.  Moving up from her defensive position on a corner, Dempsey headed home a feed into the box by sophomore Brittany Boscarino (Ellington, Conn.) to extend the Owls' lead to 5-0.  Junior Joan Hamel (Weare, N.H.) completed the first half barrage with her second goal of the season, a blast into the far corner with 6:41 to play.

            "Coming out and scoring in the first minute really boosted our confidence because a lot of times we've been coming out flat," said Croteau.  "We have a rule that once we score we have to play hard for two minutes so we won't have a letdown and  we definitely did that today."

            "We were just pushing the ball around so well, finding each other, making runs and just getting behind the ball," said Hamel.  "The midfield did a great job. Yesterday in practice, we worked on placing through balls and we were executed that in the game."

            Several Owl freshmen, including Kelly Burrell (Cumberland, Maine) and Amy Jose (Oakland, Maine) broke in alone in the second half looking to score their first college goal, but USM senior goalie Kat Rothe (Leeds, Maine) denied them with several diving saves. 

            Keene State dominance was indicative in the statistics.   Keene State had a wide 33-2 advantage in shots and led in corner kicks 4-2.

            Keene State coach used all three of her goalies.  Megan Dempsey played the first half and made two saves.  Freshmen Victoria Crenson (North Salem, N.Y.) and Victoria Tarabelli (Needham, Mass.) saw their first action of the season in the second half.  Both goalies weren't credited with a save. It was the fourth consecutive shutout for the Owls.

            Rothe had a busy day in goal for the Huskies, making 12 saves in 76:24 minutes of play.  Freshman Sara Bishop (Frankfort, Maine) played the final 13:36 and made two saves.

            Hamel said the team is well aware of the importance of winning their LEC games.  "These are the six games we need to win," she said.  "These are the game we show who we are and what we can do.  It sends a message to the other teams in the conference.
           

           Before returning to LEC play on Saturday with a game at Plymouth State, the Owls host Middlebury on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) and travel to Worcester State (7 p.m.) on Thursday.