Salem, MA- 4/12/13 Tyler McKelvie (Acton, MA) scored five goals, and the Keene State Owls withstood a late Salem State rally to hang on to a 16-13 victory over the Vikings in a Little East Conference match at Alumni Field on Friday afternoon.  Keene State upped its record to 9-2, and remains unbeaten in conference at 3-0, while Salem State goes to 7-4, and 0-3 in Little East play.

The Vikings scored first with 9:42 on the clock when Ben Melaugh (Billerica, MA) scored on an assist from Ryan Savini (Wilmington, MA).  However, Keene State's Tyler McKelvie (Acton, MA) rocketed in a shot to tie the game, and then assisted JT Galloway (Tampa, FL) on a goal two and a half minutes later that put Keene State up 2-1.  Ian Hart (Richmond, NH) had two assists for the Owls when McKelvie and Joe Sialiano (Yorktown, NY) scored a pair of goals that pushed Keene State's lead to 4-1 after one.

McKelvie continued the scoring in the 2nd period when William Angell (Littleton, MA) assisted him to make it 5-1.  Salem State's Frank Lento (Salem, MA) broke the string when he countered with an unassisted goal, but McKelvie and Ryan Hart (Richmond, NH) hooked up for a second time on a goal to make the score 6-2. McKelvie scored another on an assist from the Ryan Hart (Richmond, NH), and Sialiano added his second to give Owls an 8-2 lead at the half.

Ryan Hart sneaked a shot past the goalie on an assist from Ian Hart to push the lead to 9-2 just after halftime.  The Vikings would not quit however, and scored three straight times early in the third to make the score 9-5. Kyle Dolan (North Andover, MA) scored twice and Nate Staples (Salem, MA) scored on assist from Matt Whited (Falmouth, MA).

Taylor Jette (Simsbury, CT) scored back-to-back goals on assists from McKelvie and Ryan Hart, and Ian Hart netted his own goal for Keene State before Jette hit his hat-trick to make it 13-5 with 4:39 remaining in the third. Salem State's Melaugh provided his team with another goal, but Galloway answered with his second goal for the Owls on an assist from Ryan Hart, and Curt Serafini (Westford, MA) got in the mix when he scored to make it a 15-6 game after three.

Keene State seemed to be in control and pulled starting goalie Alex Sharp (Winchester, MA) early in the fourth. Nick Romeo (Salem, MA) replaced Sharp, and the Vikings went on the attack, scoring seven unanswered goals to pull within 15-13 with four minutes remaining. The Vikings Andy Rice (Weymouth, MA), Lento, and Ian Abrahamson (Billerica, MA) scored a string of goals in forty-four seconds to make it 15-9.  Dolan's hat trick, and Abrahamson's second made the score 15-11 before Bobby Bourgeois (Billerica, MA) tightened the game up with a Salem State goal that put Owl's starting goalie Sharp back in the game. Savini's score with 4:12 remaining put the contest in doubt, but Billy Ries (Putnam Valley, NY) stopped the Vikings' comeback when he took the face off and went in untouched for a score that iced the 16-13 victory.

Dylan Svenson (Billerica, MA) had 18 saves for Salem State in the loss, while Sharp stopped seven shots and Romeo three for Keene State.

The Owls outshot the Vikings 45-32, and won the ground ball battle 46-31.
Galloway and Sialiano each had two goals for Keene State while Ian Hart had five assists and Ryan Hart four. Dolan had three goals for Salem State while Melaugh, Abrahamson, and Lento had multiple goal games.

The Vikings next game is against Western Connecticut State on Wednesday at 7:00 PM at Alumni Field.  The Owls will take to their home field on Wednesday when they play UMass-Boston at 4:00 PM.

(Courtesy salem State Sports Information)