ONEONTA, N.Y. – Senior defender Alexa Skinner (Goffstown, N.H.) converted a penalty kick 6:12 into the game, and that goal held up as the eventual game-winner as the Keene State College women's soccer team blanked Hartwick College 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Elmore Field as part of the 48th Annual Mayor's Cup.

Records

• Keene State:  2-1-1
• Hartwick:  1-2-1

How It Happened
In search of more chances and more offense after a shutout loss at the State University of New York at Oneonta on Saturday, the Owls achieved part of their objective, scoring an early goal and making it stand up while outshooting the Hawks 18-8 including 12-4 in the opening 45 minutes.  Keene State generated pressure right away, forcing Harwick goalkeeper Meghan Perry to make three saves in the opening 2:27 – one on Riley Devine, one on Elizabeth Kopicko, and another on Elizabeth Tschudin.  It did not stay scoreless for long, as after the Owls jammed up the Hawks in the midfield, Kopicko corralled a ball and led Skinner, who was clearly tripped by Mia Defayette as she entered the box on what could have been a breakaway chance.  Awarded a penalty, Skinner beat Perry – who guessed left – to her right for a 1-0 lead at the 38:48 mark.  The Hawks did not have many sustained chances and were offsides six times, but did push after the Owls took the lead for an equalizer in the ensuing minutes.  However, Julia Bono's shot was wide right and Grace Byrne was wide left.

KSC pushed for more as the half went on, but Perry made eight saves, including on Skinner in the 23rd minute, Morgan Prates in the 29th minute, and Claire Halligan in the 30th.  Joclynn Tyler and Emily O'Connell also fired shots that were grabbed by the Hawks' keeper.  The Owls carried a 1-0 lead into the break.  Riley Andriski only needed to make one save in the opening 45 minutes, and three for the game.

The story did not change much in the second half, as Tschudin shot high at the 52:43 mark and Kopicko forced Perry to make a stop about six minutes later.  Hartwick had a corner kick with 22:40 to go, but Andriski easily scooped up a header from Riley Miner to snuff out that chance.  The Owls pushed and generated a big chance on a counterattack to double their lead with a little under 15 minutes left as Tschudin beat a pair of defenders and was nearly in on the goalkeeper alone, but Perry kicked away her shot.  That did generate a rebound opportunity, but Christina Sanders' bid was scooped up by Perry with two knees on the ground.

Harwick had a few chances in the final 10 minutes to try to force a tie, though none were extremely dangerous, as they were twice offside before Andriski caught Grace Byrne's lofted shot from the far right corner of the box in the 85th minute for her third and final save, improving to 2-1-1.

"It was nice to get a win on the road, but we need to play better and capitalize on our opportunities," said Keene State head coach Sarah Testo.

Perry (1-2-1) made 12 saves for the Hawks to keep them in the game and finished with 23 on the weekend after recording 11 in a 3-1 loss to Rutgers University-Camden on Saturday.

Inside the Box

• Skinner is now 2-for-2 in penalty kicks in her career, having also converted one last year in a 2-1 home loss to the University of Massachusetts-Boston on October 15.
• It was just the second-ever meeting between the two teams.  The Owls beat Hartwick 5-2 on September 4, 2005 at the same venue, getting two goals from Courtney Gately.
• Tschudin and Kopicko have combined for 20 shots (13 on goal) in KSC's four games thus far.

Up Next

• Keene State opens their home schedule against Westfield State University (1-3) on Wednesday, September 13.  Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.  WSU has allowed 13 goals in their three losses, including five to the University of Southern Maine in a three-goal loss and six to No. 21 State University of New York at Cortland in a four-goal loss on Saturday.  They made the NCAA tournament a season ago and won a first round game before losing to the University of Scranton 3-0.
• Hartwick travels to face Keuka College (0-3-1) for an Empire 8 contest on Saturday, September 16 at 1:00 p.m.