KEENE, N.H.--Three goals in the first five minutes of the game gave the Keene State College men's soccer team an 8-1 win over the University of Southern Maine on Senior Day at Owl Athletic Complex.

The Owls, who improved to 11-6-1, and 4-2-1 in the LEC,  clinched their place in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament that begins on Wednesday, November 5.  Keene State will be the No. 3 seed and play at No. 2 seed Eastern Connecticut State University.  

Southern Maine sees their season end with a 2-15-2 mark, and an 0-6-1 record in the Little East Conference.

Keene State got the ball rolling in the third minute of the game, as Conor Leahy slid in a cross that Riley Steele slid in past USM goalie Elijah Leverett.   1:05 later, the lead was 2-0 as Jonathan Pena crossed for Michael Jacques to score.  Steele added his second of the game and KSC's third with just 4:45 to play.

A Southern Maine turnover allowed Eddie Mercer to score in the 28th minute, and Promise Kpee scored in the 32nd and 35th minutes to give KSC a 6-0 lead at halftime.

10 minutes after halftime, the Owls made it 7-0, as Cam Rogers' cross was knocked down by Steele, who found Leahy for his team high seventh goal this year.

The Huskies' best chance of the game to that point came in the 68th minute, when USM was awarded a penalty kick.  Tyler Rand stepped up to beat KSC goalie Jacob Walker to the right, but the referee ordered the kick re-taken.  Rand again went right with the kick, but Walker was equal to it to preserve the KSC lead.

USM did eventually get on the board with a clever free kick, that allowed Rand to score his fourth goal of the season.

Aran Devereaux rounded off the KSC scoring with a solo effort in the 89th minute.

Leverett made seven saves in net during the first half for Southern Maine.  Charles Mull played the second half and made two stops. 

Mike Ketterman, one of 10 Keene State senionrs honored on the day, played the first 66 minutes and made one save.  Walker came on for the final 23 and also made one stop.

In addition to Ketterman, seniors Jacques, Kaleb Lique-Naitove, Yazid Eidah, Brett Sullivan, Ian Downing, Pat Anthony, Charlie Pilger, Nick Godzyk, and Nate Banas were all honored before the game for their contributions to the program.