Box Score

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Keene State men's soccer team traveled to take on the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) for their last regular season road game of 2023. After scoring halfway through the first half, the Owls would allow three goals over nine minutes shortly into the second half and not recover, as they would fall to the Trailblazers for the first time in program history, 3-1.

Records

• Keene State: 8-4-2, 5-0-2 LEC
• MCLA: 5-6-1, 1-3-1 MASCAC

How it Happened


Keene State would take control early in the first half as they would get four shots off before MCLA even attempted a shot. Two of the first three shots would be saved by the Trailblazer's goalkeeper, Ryan Taylor, while the other go wide of the net. The fourth shot would come off a corner from Declan Coughlin, as he sent the ball into MCLA's box, where Cristian Cinque would score his first career collegiate goal as he headed the ball past Taylor, putting the Owls up 1-0, 27:37 into the contest. The Trailblazers would get their first shots off five minutes later as the first would be blocked and the second would be saved by the Owls' goalie, Edlin Husanovic, as he would preserve the Owls' lead. Neither team would muster off any shots the rest of the way in the first as the Owls went into halftime up 1-0.
 
MCLA would dominate the second half as they would outshoot Keene State 14-6, including 6-1 in shots on goal over the final 45 minutes of play. The Trailblazers would score 2 minutes into the second half as Traizen Griffith would assist David Kankam for MCLA's equalizing goal. Over the next few minutes Husanovic would make a save for the Owls, while Richard Schineis, who entered the game at halftime for MCLA, would make a save in net, keeping the match tied 1-1 as the second half continued. At the 53:55 mark in the match, Husanovic made a save on Benjamin Bonsu, but he was unable to corral the rebound as it bounced right to Kankam, who fired a shot into the back of the net, putting the Trailblazers up 2-1. MCLA continued to apply the pressure as they would get three more shots off in under three minutes. After the first shot sailed wide, the second would be on target as Husanovic would make a save on Liam Gibney, but Husanovic couldn't collect the ball on the save as the ball would hit his hands and bounce off the crossbar, right to the charging Kankam who would bury the rebound into the net again, putting the Owls up 3-1 after scoring three goals in nine and a half minutes. Shortly after the Trailblazers' goal, Giacomo Sinopoli would try to pull the Owls' to within a goal, but his shot would sail above the net. In the 65th minute, MLCA's defense would block two more Owls' shots, helping preserve their 3-1 lead. Shortly after came a corner from Coughlin again, which would result in a header from Elias Stowell-Aleman, but it would sail wide of the net as the Trailblazers would maintain their 3-1 lead with under 18 minutes remaining. Neither team would get a shot on net the rest of the way as MCLA would have a shot go wide and be blocked by the Owls' defense and Alex Nicolas' shot would be blocked by MCLA's defense late in the half, as MCLA would hold on to their lead and take down the Owls, 3-1.
 
Husanovic made four saves on the day, one in the first half and three in the second, while allowing all three goals to the Trailblazers in the second half, over a nine-minute span. Taylor would play the first 45 minutes of the match for MCLA and face three shots on goal, saving a pair and then allowing a goal. Schineis played the final 45 minutes of play for MCLA and only faced one shot, which he saved.
 
The Head Coach of the Keene State men's soccer team, Matt Schmidt, talked about his thoughts on the game, mentioning how they had to rotate a lot of players in the game, "The first half was fairly even, and we did some things well in the attack, just could not execute consistently. Some players had to rotate in due to injuries and those guys stepped up. In the second half, MCLA made some adjustments, and we were flat and didn't defend well as a team." Schmidt also emphasized how is important to learn from the match and improve for the important game against Rhode Island College on Saturday, "Several lessons for us to take away and improve before Saturday."
 
Inside the Box

• With the defeat, it marks the first time that MCLA has beaten Keene State in men's soccer, as the all-time series now sits at 13-1 in favor of the Owls. Keene State had outscored MCLA by a total score of 52-3 across the previous meetings. 
• After outshooting the Trailblazers 4-2 in the first half, the Owls were outshot 14-6 in the second half. The Trailblazers finished with 16 shots compared to the Owls' 10.
• Cinque scored his first career goal in the match, coming in his eighth game for the Owls this season.
• This was the third time in the 2023 season where the Owls have given up three goals in the match, as they have lost in all three games by a combined score of 10-2.

Up Next

Keene State's next game is their senior day at home on Saturday, October 21, at 2:00 PM. In their final regular season LEC game, the Owls will be taking on Rhode Island College, with a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference with a win.
MCLA will next play at home for their next game, coming against Fitchburg State on Friday, October 20, at 6:00 PM.