KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State men's soccer returned home on Sunday for their last regular season Little East Conference game of the season as they hosted Rhode Island College. The Owls, looking to remain undefeated in Little East Conference play and clinch the No. 1 seed in the regular season, would falter at home and be defeated by the Anchormen, 3-0.

Records

• Keene State: 8-5-2, 5-1-2 LEC
• Rhode Island College: 8-3-3, 4-1-1 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Schmidt)

How it Happened

Keene State would outshoot RIC in the first half 6-4, including 2-1 in shots on goal. Three of RIC's shots would come in the first 12 minutes of the half, but none would be on target as one would be blocked and the other two would both go wide of the net. Both teams would trade possessions as the half went on and Keene State would get an opportunity to score with under 14 minutes to go in the first half. Elias Stowell-Aleman would rip a shot on net from the top of the Anchormen box, but RIC's goalie, Jake Reed, made the save to keep the match scoreless as the first half started to come to a close. With under nine minutes remaining in the first half, the Owls would be on the attack and move the ball around the Anchormen defense well, but Rahul Drukpa's shot would sail wide of the net. A few minutes later, RIC would have their only shot on goal of the first half and they would make it count; after a corner kick for the Anchormen, Alijah Nunes would collect the ball in the Owls' box and chip the ball over towards the goal and find the head of Lucas Duquette, who headed the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the season, putting RIC up 1-0 with 5:27 left to play in the first half. Keene State would try to answer before the first half would come to an end, but Ali Alzawar's shot would go wide of the net and Giacomo Sinopoli's shot attempt would be saved by Reed, keeping the Anchormen up 1-0 heading into halftime.
 
Rhode Island College would come into the second half, building off their momentum that they had gained from their goal at the end of the first half. The first shot attempt of the second half would come from Cody Granville of RIC and he would make it count; after blocking the Owls' clear attempt in their box, Granville would take a touch and flick the ball with the outside of his right foot past the Owls' goalkeeper, Regan Racicot, putting the Anchormen up 2-0 with over 40 minutes left to play in the match. Drukpa would get two chances to pull the Owls within a goal over the next eight minutes, but both his shot attempts would be saved by Reed, preserving RIC's two goal lead. RIC would add another goal at the 62:28 mark, as Jackson Fox would intercept a pass near midfield, dribble halfway into Keene State's half of the field and send an arching cross over the Owls' defense and into the box, where Greenville would again, use the outside of his right foot, to send a shot past the charging Racicot, putting the Anchormen up 3-0. Drukpa would get another chance to score with just under 20 minutes to play, but Reed would again make another save on Drukpa. Over the next 15 minutes, the Owls would keep trying to apply the pressure on RIC, as they tried to mount a comeback, but it would get nowhere as they would only get three shot attempts off, with Reed making a pair of saves, coming against Drukpa and Cristian Correa, and Caleb Harmon would see his shot go wide of the net. Keene State would get three more shots off in the match, but RIC's defense would lock them down and block a pair and see the other go wide in the final seconds, as the Anchormen would hold onto their 3-0 lead and take down the Owls. 
 
Reed made seven saves on the day, posting his fourth shutout of the season, all of which have come against LEC opponents. Racicot allowed three goals, not making a save in the match on the three shots that he saw.
 
In his postgame interview, Matt Schmidt, the Head Coach of the Keene State men's soccer team talked about how they build from the game and what they need to for their next game and how to get ready for the playoffs, "When there is adversity and a problem to solve and our reaction and response to the game in that moment, is up to the boys and we got to put them in situations, which we have tried to do in training, to try to help them improve that. Those are things that you learn. Like earlier in the season, we had some moments like this, you have got to take those lessons away from the game, and they were saying these things [postgame as a team]. They just need to process and apply it."
 
Inside the Box

• With the loss, Keene State falls to 24-7-2 all time against RIC, as they have lost in the past three meetings with the Anchormen, getting shutout in all three and being outscored 9-0.
• Granville, a freshman for the Anchormen, scored two goals in a game for the first time in his collegiate career, bringing his season total to six goals.
• Drukpa led all players with five shots and four shots on goal in the match.
• Keene State now sits at 17 points in the LEC standings, finishing 5-1-2 in conference play, their best since going 6-2 in 2019.
• The Owls currently sit in the No. 1 seed in the conference and all they can do is watch the other games next Saturday (10/28), when they are on their bye weekend, to find out what seed they will receive. Although it cannot be determined what seed the Owls will end up with, Keene State has clinched at least a top three seed no matter the outcomes of the rest of the games.

Up Next

Keene State's next game will be their last regular season game of the 2023 season, as the Owls will host Worcester State on Tuesday, October 24, at 6:30 PM.
Rhode Island College will play their last regular reason non-conference game of their 2023 season for their next contest, as they will host Bridgewater State on Tuesday, October 24, at 4:00 PM.