KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's soccer team kicked off their four-game home stand against Westfield State University on Wednesday night and after trimming a two-goal deficit to one with a little less than 20 minutes left could not complete the comeback, falling 3-1 at Dr. Ron Butcher Field.
Records
- Keene State: 2-2-1
- Westfield State: 2-3
Postgame Interview (Coach Testo)
How it Happened
Westfield State would strike early, as Katie Slattery sent a free kick into KSC's box where Delaney Parker would pass the ball off the back of her right heel to Kiana Muratsuka who fired a one-timer past the KSC goalkeeper,
Riley Andriski, for a 1-0 lead 6:32 into the contest. It did not take long for them to add another, as Muratsuka added another point to her day not even two minutes later, sending a pass ahead to Jaida Cochran, who sent a shot low to the near post to put Westfield State up 2-0 at the 8:10 mark. KSC tried to answer shortly after, as
Giuliana Stolfi would test WSU goalie Sarah Fuller, but she made a save to preserve the two-goal lead. Soon after, Westfield's offensive leader Parker, who has scored 47 goals across her freshman and sophomore seasons, tried to add a goal to her previous helper, sending a shot to the far post, but Andriski was there for the diving save for KSC. Neither team would score the rest of the first half, as Keene State would have five more shots that would all end up wide of the net or blocked by WSU, keeping the game 2-0 heading into halftime.
Keene State looked to get within a goal as they started the second half, as they would get two shots on net from
Allison Yanski and
Kinsey Donegan, but Fuller would make two more saves in net to keep it 2-0. KSC made a goalkeeper substitution at halftime as
Sonia Moritz entered the game, and she would make a save soon after Fuller's saves, denying Parker of adding more points to her stat sheet on the night two minutes later. Moritz would make a pair of saves over a three-minute period, which would eventually lead to KSC pulling within a goal, at the 72:52 mark in the game. Fuller would get a hand on a ball sent across the box by
Bryn Dickinson, but it would bounce right to
Alexa Skinner, who would bury the rebound into the goal, making it 2-1 with 17:07 to go. KSC had carried the play in the second half up until that point, putting significant pressure on Westfield. That score did not last for long though, as just over six minutes later, Muratsuka would send a shot to the far post past Moritz for her second goal of the day, extending the lead back to two at 3-1 with 10:53 to go. KSC had a pair of corner kicks a minute later, but could not generate any shots until they fired three in the last two minutes, but they were all either wide or blocked.
Moritz made five saves in net for KSC in her second half action, while Andriski played the first and made one save. Westfield got four stops from Fuller
Inside the Box
- Keene State has been outscored by a 9-1 margin in the last two seasons against Westfield State after a 17-6-1 mark previously. WSU had a 30-3 shots advantage last year but was outshot 18-16 this time around.
- Muratsuka tallied five points - finishing with two goals and an assist on the day for Westfield State.
- Alexa Skinner scored her second goal in as many games, as she scored the lone goal on a penalty kick for Keene State in their 1-0 victory at Hartwick College on Sunday.
Up Next
- Keene State will play the second of their four-game homestand when they welcome Western Connecticut State University (0-3-2) on Saturday, September 16, at 1:00 p.m. to kick off Little East Conference play. The Wolves lost in the league title game to the University of Southern Maine (3-1, OT) last season.
- Westfield State will return home and host Massachusetts Maritime Academy (0-2) on Saturday, September 16 at 12:00 p.m. as they kick off MASCAC conference play. The Buccaneers have been outscored 8-0 in two games. Westfield is the preseason MASCAC coaches' poll favorite as they look to win the league for a third straight season.
