KEENE, N.H., – The Keene State men's soccer team traveled to UMass-Dartmouth Saturday as they looked to extend their three-game win streak. After allowing the opening goal to the Corsairs in the first minute of the match, the Owls would come back and pick up the win with Brandon Comire, Mbambi Mbungu, and Cristian Correa each netting a goal for a 3-2 victory. 

Records

• Keene State: 6-2-1, 3-0-1 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth: 0-8-1, 0-3 LEC

How It Happened
UMass-Dartmouth would come out of the gates hot, still looking for their first win on the season. Just 58 seconds into the contest, Rafael Raposo sent a pass from nearly midfield to the edge of the Owls' box, where Joey Paiva would take a touch and flick the ball just over the hands of the charging Owls' goalkeeper, Regan Racicot, putting the Corsairs up 1-0 very early on. Keene State answered just six minutes later as Giacomo Sinopoli sent the corner kick into the box, where Comire would send a header into the back of the net, past the outstretched arms of the diving goalkeeper, Jack Waterhouse, knotting the game up at one apiece. Racicot would make his first save of the day for the Owls in the 21st minute, saving a header from Paulo Frias, to keep the match scoreless. Comire would tally another point on the day a few minutes later as he would send a pass from deep inside the Owls' defensive half, out ahead of Mbungu; two Corsairs would miscommunicate and allow the speedy Mbungu to blow past them, collect the loose ball, and fire a shot around Waterhouse and into the back of the net, giving the Owls a 2-1 advantage. Waterhouse would come back and make a pair of saves over the next 12 minutes in net, before the equalizing goal was scored by the Corsairs. Raposo added another assist on the day as he sent a free kick into the Owls' box, that found the foot of Justin Petrillo, who would kick the one timer home, knotting the game up at two, with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Racicot would make a save in the final minutes of the first half, keeping the score 2-2 heading into halftime.
 
The second half would have a combined 20 shots, with UMass-Dartmouth narrowly edging out Keene State, 11-9, including six shots on goal to the Owls' three. Racicot would make two save to Waterhouse's one over the first 25 minutes of the final half. Not even two minutes after Racicot's previously mentioned second save of the half, it would lead to Sinopoli sending the ball across the box, deflecting right off a Corsair defender and to the feet of Correa, who would fire a shot into the back of the net, giving the Owls a 3-2 lead, with just under 20 minutes left to play. Racicot would make another pair of saves on back-to-back shots, just two minutes later, helping keep the lead for the Owls. With just under four minutes remaining in the match, it looked as if the Corsairs would tie the game, as Braeden LeClair would get an opportunity and send a free kick on goal. Racicot was unable to make the save on the free kick, as he looked to his left, seeing the ball go flying past him, only to see Brandon Comire come flying in and headed the ball away to help preserve the Owls' lead. Just a minute later, Damir Hamzic would be called for a penalty inside the box and LeClair would get another opportunity to find the back of the net. On the attempt, LeClair sailed the ball over the crossbar, squandering the opportunity for the Corsairs to draw even. That ended up being UMass-Dartmouth's last chance, as the Owls would escape with the 3-2 victory. 
 
Racicot finished the day with seven saves, allowed two goals and was aided in net by a defensive save from Comire. Waterhouse made four saves in net, while allowing three goals.
 
After the game against NEC earlier in the season got moved to this previous Monday, September 25, the Owls have played four games in a week and picked up four wins. That was touched upon by the Owls' Head Coach, Matt Schmidt, "Four games in seven days, four wins. The boys worked hard this week." Although UMass-Dartmouth might not look the strongest record wise, Schmidt indicated that they were a strong competitor, "Today was a tough road game, we definitely didn't play our best, but credit to UMass-Dartmouth, they are better than their record indicates, and they fought hard today."

Looking forward, the Owls are hoping to continue their momentum, after a long week that included three LEC games, "We need to get some rest, then get back to our process! Need to get some good training in this week. However, we put ourselves in a good position with this win in the LEC."
 
Inside the Box

• With the win, Keene State improves to 20-8-3 all time against UMass-Dartmouth, including going 5-0-1 over the last six meetings.
• Correa's first career collegiate goal ended up being the game winner in the match. He had not recorded a point yet this season until the previous game against Vermont State Castleton, where he picked up an assist.
• Comire played the full 90 minutes on the day, making impactful plays at the start and end of the match; scoring the equalizing goal for the Owls in the 7th minute and then making the big defensive save in the 86th minute.
• Mbambi Mbungu continues to lead the Owls on attack, scoring his fifth goal over the past three games and bringing his season total to 21 points from nine goals and three assists.
• Keene State College outshot UMass-Dartmouth 19 to 16 on the day.

Up Next

Keene State's next game is Tuesday, October 3, at 4:00 PM to face one of the top teams in the country, Williams College, who was ranked as high as #2 previously this season.
UMass-Dartmouth will travel and take on Wentworth on Tuesday, September 3, at 6:00 PM for their next game.