HENNIKER, N.H. – The Keene State College men's soccer team got goals from four different people and a clean sheet from Eldin Husanovic while rolling to a 4-0 victory over New England College on Monday afternoon at Don Melander Field.  

Records

• Keene State:  4-2-1, 1-0-1 LEC
• New England College:  3-1-4, 2-0-3 GNAC

How It Happened
Keene State applied the pressure early, getting two shots off in the first three minutes, which would be blocked by the NEC defense, before Declan Coughlin would send a corner kick to Frank Mucyo, who would send the ball to the back of the net, giving the Owls the lead just 3:17 into the first half. Coughlin would add another assist on the day just six minutes later as he drew the NEC goalkeeper, Logan Clough, out of the net along the goal line, and flicked the ball over to Caleb Harmon, who would fire the one timer into the back of the net to put the Owls up 2-0, not even 10 minutes into the match. 11 minutes later, Cristian Correa would try to gain himself a pair of points and net a goal for the Owls, but Clough would make the save in net. Although just 40 seconds later, Brandon Comire, received a pass from Harmon in the KSC defensive zone and sent a pass out ahead of Mbambi Mbungu. Mbungu would chase the ball down, beating out two NEC defenders to the ball and snook a shot past the charging Clough to put the Owls up by three, with 24 minutes to go in the first half. NEC would try to answer, as Clough would make two more saves in net over the next three minutes, NEC would get three shot attempts, although none would find the net, either going high, wide, or blocked by a KSC defender. Matthew Monteserin would score his first collegiate goal, just nine minutes after Mbungu's goal for the Owls, putting KSC up 4-0 with 15 minutes remaining in the first half of play. Neither team would score during the rest of the first half, although, NEC did try to cut the Owls' lead down, as they mustered four shots on net in the final 15 minutes of the first, but Owls' goalkeeper, Eldin Husanovic, would make four saves to preserve the Owls' 4-0 lead heading into halftime. 
 
Although neither team would score during the second half, both goalies would add saves to their total. In a deep hole, NEC tried to cut the Owls' lead early, but Husanovic made a save a minute into the second half off a free kick from the Pilgrims. Clough would make a pair of saves in net over the next 15 minutes to do his part to limit the Owls from increasing their lead. In the 69th minute, Husanovic would make another save in net for the Owls off a shot far outside the box from Erik Corbin.  In the final 10 minutes of the game, each goalie would make another save in net, as the final would end up a 4-0 win for the Owls.

 "It was great to score early and on another set piece," said Keene State head coach Matt Schmidt. "Really had our rhythm and possession game going today.  Also, nice to get contributions from many players off the bench today, including a shutout from Eldin Husanovic."

Schmidt emphasized how important it was to look towards the next conference game against Vermont State Universaity Castleton, saying "now we need to stay focused for the LEC game on Wednesday."

Husanovic made a total of seven saves in net in his first career game shutout in net for the Owls, while Clough made eight saves on the 12 shots he faced in net for the Pilgrims.
 
Inside the Box

• With the win, Keene State improved to 5-1 all time against NEC, winning the second game in a row in the series by a combined score of 7-1.
• Each team had four corner kicks in the contest today.
• KSC outshot the Pilgrims 21-18, including 12 shots on net to seven from NEC.

Up Next

• Keene State returns home this Wednesday, September 27 at 6:30 PM, taking on LEC opponent Vermont State Castleton (3-5, 1-1 LEC).
• NEC will travel on Wednesday, September 27 (6:00 PM) to Saint Joseph's College of Maine as they return to GNAC play.