Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Junior Beverly Cole (Madbury, N.H.) had a goal and an assist as the visiting Keene State College Owls shut out the University of Southern Maine 3-0 in a Little East Conference women's soccer match Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
The win was the second straight for the Owls, and improved their record to 3-5 overall and 1-1-0 in conference play. The Huskies fell to 1-7-0 overall and 0-2-0 in LEC games.
"We had flashes of really good play and were able to put the ball in the net which obviously something we've had issues with all season," said KSC assistant coach Sarah Testo, who was filling in for Owl head coach Denise Lyons. "Overall it was a great LEC win. Things are coming together. We just have to keep it going."
With less than three minutes to play in the opening half, Cole scored the Owls' second goal of the match when her partially stuffed shot from 10 yards out squirted inside the left post. The goal was the second of the season for Cole.
Cole picked up her first assist of the season on the lone goal of the second half, an 18-yard blast off the crossbar by senior Brittany Croteau (Swanzey, N.H.) in the 71st minute. The goal was Croteau's first of the campaign.
The Owls took a 1-0 lead in second minute of play when junior Kara Pavlidis (Lee, N.H.) launched a 30-yard shot over USM freshman goalkeeper Marissa Temple (Grafton, Mass.) and under the crossbar for her third goal.
Keene State sophomore goalkeeper Torrie Crenson (North Salem, N.Y.) registered two saves to earn her first shutout of the season and of her career. Temple and senior Katie Cobb (Lewiston, Maine) split the goalkeeping chores for Southern Maine. Temple made six saves in the opening half while Cobb stopped four shots in the second half.
The Owls piled up a 21-4 advantage in shots and an 8-1 margin in corner kicks.
Keene State will host Johnson and Wales University under the lights on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.).
(Courtesy Southern Maine Sports Information)
