KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State women's soccer team hosted Eastern Connecticut State Tuesday night at Dr. Ron Butcher Field, for the Quarterfinals of the Little East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament. Keene State's senior captain, Alexa Skinner, would net the lone goal in the match, in a 1-0 victory for the Owls, sending the Owls to the semifinals to take on Western Connecticut State on Thursday.

Records

• Keene State: 10-3-7
• Eastern Connecticut State: 4-7-4

Postgame Interview (Coach Testo)
Postgame Interview (Alexa Skinner)

How It Happened
Eastern Connecticut State looked to take the early lead, as they would get a pair of shots off in the first 13 minutes of the first half, but the Keene State defense would lock them down. After the first shot would go wide of the net, a few minutes later, Brynn Dickinson would intercept a pass in the KSC box, and clear the ball, denying Madison Palmer the scoring chance for the Warriors. Shortly after, Sonia Moritz, the Owls' goalkeeper, would make a diving save, coming off a shot from Daria DiBiaso from far outside the box. Both teams would take a pair of shots over the next few minutes, but none would be on target for either team. Then, in the 27th minute, Rachel Souza would send a pass from just over midfield to the edge of the Warriors' box, where it would deflect off Alexa Skinner and towards the goal past the charging goalie from ECSU, Emily Wallace. Skinner and Wallace sprinted after the ball as it rolled towards the open goal near the right post, and luckily for the Owls, Skinner would win the race and be able to get a piece of the ball and send it into the back of the net, past the diving hands of Wallace, giving the Owls a 1-0 lead with 18 minutes left to play in the first half. Over those final 18 minutes in the first half, there would only be one shot, as the Warriors looked to draw even right before halftime. Ashlyn Rogers would get a shot off from the Edge of KSC's box, but it would be right at Moritz, who would make the easy save and send the Owls into halftime up 1-0.
 
After having a regular season record of 6-1-1 with the lead at halftime, the Owls were looking to continue to lock down the Warriors in the second half and advance to the semifinals. The Owls looked to build their lead right out of the gates during the final 45 minutes of play, where they would get five shots off in the first eight minutes of the second half. After the first two shots missed the target, the third came from a free kick taken by Giuliana Stolfi that found the foot of Claire Halligan inside the Warriors box, where she would redirect the free kick past Wallace, but Emily Dunlea would save the Warriors, clearing the ball off the goal line, limiting Keene State's lead to one early in the second half. The fourth shot missed the net, but the last of the five would be a shot from Elizabeth Kopicko from outside ECSU's box, but Wallace would make the save in net. Wallace would make another save in the 67th minute, as Skinner sent a free kick into the Warriors' box and Elizabeth Tschudin tried try to head the ball into the back of the net, but Wallace would deny the opportunity. ECSU would get their first shot on net of the second half in the 72nd minute, where Rogers would get a shot off from the edge of the Owls' box, but Moritz would make the diving save to keep the Owls ahead. Moritz would make another save on Rogers a few minutes later as it was nearly the same spot as the last shot, although this time it was much easier for Moritz, as the shot would come right to her, and she would make the save. As time was winding down, Moritz and the Owls' defense would lock down the Warriors, as Moritz would make another save in net in the 80th minute, and then she would cut off a pass sent out ahead in the box from DiBiaso, who was looking for Grace Muller. The Owls would hold on for the 1-0 win after neither team scored the rest of the way. Keene State improved to 7-1-1 when leading at halftime in their 2023 season.
 
Moritz posted her eighth shutout of the season, making five saves on the day. Wallace allowed one goal in net, while making two saves for the Warriors.
 
"Overall, we have played really good defense in the back, having confidence in all four of them, and especially our goalie, Sonia, definitely helps and always getting that clean sheet, winning those 50-50s, it helps our whole team. Our whole team definitely has confidence in our defense," said Skinner in her postgame interview when asked about the confidence of the team in the defense after posting clean sheets in the past three matches, heading into the big game against Western Connecticut State.
 
When Skinner was asked about how Souza connected with her on the pass for her goal and if the chemistry has been built up over the few years of playing together, Skinner was happy to see the back line get some recognition, "We play really well together. I called for that ball, and she found me, and I think it's about time [Souza] especially gets credit, defense doesn't usually get a lot of credit… I think it sparked more confidence from the back line."
 
"I think we moved the ball really well, we emphasized to them switching the field, the weak side was really open. I think at times we did that really well. We pride ourselves on being a possession team, find feet, don't play direct, don't play long, we like to play that short. I think what we need to work on the next game is putting those opportunities away. When you have a one-nothing lead and you have those opportunities to make it two-nothing, three-nothing, you need to finish those opportunities," Sarah Testo, the head coach of the Keene State women's soccer team said when asked about what the team did well in the match, and what they need to improve on heading into the next round of the tournament.
 
Inside the Box

• With the win for the Owls, Keene State defeated Eastern Connecticut for the third consecutive time when the two teams have met in the LEC Tournament (1-0 in 2023, 2-1 in 2015, and 1-0 in 2013).
• Keene State advances to the semifinals for the first time since 2017, where they fell to Western Connecticut State, 2-1. 
• Rogers and Tschudin were both tied with three shots each in the match, but Rogers led all players with three shots on goal.
• The Owls narrowly outshot the Warriors, 11-10, although ECSU had five shots on goal to the Owls' four.
• Keene State had six corners, three in each half, and did not allow any from Eastern Connecticut State. 

Up Next

Keene State's next game will come in the Semifinals of the Little East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament, as they will travel to take on Western Connecticut State on Thursday, November 2, at 6:00 PM.
Eastern Connecticut State's season comes to an end after being unable to score against the Owls, which seemed to be an issue this year for the Warriors, scoring only 12 goals across their 15 games on the season.