KEENE, N.H., – The Keene State men's soccer team returned to LEC play Saturday at home, as they hosted UMass-Boston in a battle of two of the top teams in the LEC standings. After the Beacons took the lead towards the end of the first half, the Owls would answer with a goal just 38 seconds later and then take the lead in the second half to pick up another three points in the LEC standings from a 2-1 win.

Records

• Keene State: 7-3-1, 4-0-1 LEC
• UMass-Boston 8-3-2, 2-1-1 LEC

Postgame Interview (Matt Schmidt)
Postgame Interview (Regan Racicot)

How It Happened
UMass-Boston would look to score first, where in the 11th minute Gabriel Meireles would take a free kick just outside the Owls' box for the Beacons, sending a curving shot on net. Regan Racicot would make the initial save, sending the rebound out to Ryan Lima of, who would try to send a header into the back of the net, but Racicot would make another great save, to keep the contest 0-0 early on. Cristian Correa got the first shot on net for the Owls as he sent a rocket from the edge of the box on net, but it was right at Victor Reyes, the Beacons' goalkeeper, who would make the save. Reyes made another pair of saves, spread out over the next nine minutes in net, doing his part to keep the game scoreless. Racicot would also make a pair of saves, soon after, in the 31st minute, and in the 37th minute. Although Racicot was able to make the save on Meireles' shot from the edge of the box in the 37th minute, he was not able to corral the shot, as it bounced off of his hands and right to the charging Patrick Garcia, who would send it into the back of the net for the Beacons, giving them a 1-0 lead with 7:54 left in the first half. On the ensuing possession for the Owls, Declan Coughlin would have his shot blocked, recover the loose ball and bring it into the Beacons' box. Mbambi Mbungu would find the loose ball and flick a shot towards the right side of the goal and past the frozen Reyes, killing the Beacons' momentum by tying the game up at one apiece, just 38 seconds later. Neither team would score the rest of the way in the first, as the teams would head into halftime tied at one.
 
Racicot would continue to come up big in net for the Owls, as he would make three saves over the first 18 minutes of the second half. The Owls did not muster a shot on net in the second half until the 70th minute. Brandon Comire sent a pass into the Beacons' box to Rahul Drukpa, who would get a quick shot off that Reyes would save but was unable to hold on to, as Drukpa would kick the loose ball past Reyes and then fire it into the back of the net, giving the Owls a 2-1 lead with 19:30 remaining in the contest. UMass-Boston started to really apply the pressure on the Owls after Drukpa's goal as they tried to tie the game up at two. The Beacons took four shots over the next eight minutes, sending two wide, having one blocked, and Racicot was able to make another save against Meireles, on a Beacons' free kick. After Reyes made a save on Cedrick Ishoboravyose with 10 minutes left to play, the Owls' defense would lock the Beacons down and only allow one shot from UMass-Boston, a free kick that Meireles that would send wide, the rest of the contest, as the Owls would hang on to the 2-1 win.
 
Racicot made eight saves in net for the Owls, only allowing one goal on the day. Reyes made five saves for the Beacons and allowed two goals in the match.
 
In his postgame interview, Keene State men's soccer Head Coach, Matt Schmidt talked about how he thought his team preformed on the day and how they feel the win, "It was pretty amazing out here, it was electric at home. The boys have been working hard, after we have had some big tests, we had a tough one at Williams the other day, which I think was good for us to kind of recognize that we need to step up our game that one more level. But the energy after the game, I know they have been building trust and building confidence, but you can see that they are seeing that now we really believe that we can be right there on top of the LEC; that's really great." Schmidt credited his reserves for coming in and playing some big minutes and making important plays, even right after logging some decent minutes in a scrimmage against Franklin Pierce's reserves the night before "Caleb Harmon is somebody that I specifically want to name out, the pressure, the heart; he has always been that guy, but has not gotten that many minutes always, and the shift he put out there last night, the work he put out there today when we needed him to step up, it's really special. I'm just glad he got to be a part of an LEC win like that, I am really happy for him." 
 
Finally, Schmidt credited his back line and Racicot today for shutting down a tough UMass-Boston team, specifically noting a few players, "All four of those guys really stepped up. I would really like to highlight Damir, because of his strength in the air and I think Frank had a really good game too. I think they complement each other well. But all the guys, it was great as a team defensively, we knew that was the key today, if we could defend and then create our chances, that was one of our keys to win and we did brilliant." 
 
In Racicot's post-game interview, Racicot also mentioned what Schmidt said about the back line and their success on the day, "I feel like my back line played very well. Their one winger is very  good and very fast but he barely got in [the box], and they gave me the least amount of shots as possible, I always like that."
 
Inside the Box

• With the win, Keene State improves to 19-6-3 all time against UMass-Boston, avenging their 0-1 loss from a year ago.
• UMass-Boston outshot the Owls 19-12 on the day, including nine to seven shots on goal.
• Mbungu continues to tear apart opposing defenses, scoring his team-high tenth goal in as many games. His ten goals tie him with Meireles for second in the LEC for goals on the season thus far, even though he has played two less games. 
• Drukpa scored the game-winning goal after not scoring in his past four games, for his third on the season.

Up Next

Keene State's next game will be against another LEC opponent at home, coming against Plymouth State on Wednesday, October 11, at 6:30 PM.
UMass-Boston's next game will be on the road again, as they travel to take on the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday, October 11, at 7:00 PM.