Box Score KEENE, N.H.--The Keene State College men's soccer team picked up a 1-0 win over regionally ranked Gordon College, courtesy of Michael Jacques' second goal of the season on Tuesday night at Owl Athletic Complex.
The Owls extended their winning streak to three games and move over .500 for the first time this year at 6-5. Gordon, which was fifth in the latest NSCAA New England ranking, suffered their second loss of the season and is now 10-2.
Keene State, which dominated play throughout the first half, had several opportunities to go in front in the opening stanza.
In the 17th minute, Brett Sullivan nearly had a spectacular goal, thumping a volleyball that Gordon goalkeeper Josh Spoonhour had to dive to keep out of the net, and in the 39th minute, Riley Steele lost his marker and threaded a slide rule pass to Aidan Dean, but Spoonhour kept the shot out.
Jacques nearly opened the scoring in the 40th minute, but headed right at Spoonhour. Two minutes later, he provided the game's only goal two minutes before halftime. Brett Sullivan's free kick took a slight deflection, and Jacques stuck out a leg to get just enough to send it past Spoonhour.
"Brett played a great ball and I just got on the end of it. We've been coming together as a team. We started a little slow but we're working hard to get the Ws," said Jacques.
The Fighting Scots best chance to tie the game came in the 60th minute, but KSC goalie Mike Ketterman tipped away a header from Aaron Terjanian.
Gordon was reduced to 10 men when Andy Guthrie received his second yellow card of the game 12 minutes from time. The Owls' Eddie Mercer nearly put the game to bed with four minutes left, but Spoonhour got a hand to his chipped effort.
"This team turned the corner against Eastern Connecticut (a 1-0 loss in overtime on September 27)," said head coach Rick Scott. We've been working very hard in practice, the kids believe in each other, and we're playing well."
Spoonhour finished with 10 saves in the Fighting Scots' net, while Ketterman made five stops.
The Owls return to Little East Conference play with a trip to UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at 3 p.m. Gordon hosts CCC foe Nichols College on October 11 at 7 p.m.
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