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Keene State College

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KEENE STATE OWLS
Women's Soccer Postgame 9.27.2023
5
Winner Keene State KSC (4-2-3, 1-0-2 LEC)
0
Vermont State Castleton VTSUC (1-8, 0-3 LEC)
Winner
Keene State KSC
(4-2-3, 1-0-2 LEC)
5
Final
0
Vermont State Castleton VTSUC
(1-8, 0-3 LEC)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Keene State KSC 3 2 5
Vermont State Castleton VTSUC 0 0 0

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Ryan Hearn, Sports Information Assistant

High Five: Devine Hat Trick Helps Owls Crush Spartans, 5-0

KSC Notches First Win in Conference Play With Season-High Goal Total

CASTLETON, Vt. – Sophomore Riley Devine (Salem, N.H.) doubled her season goal total with a hat trick while senior Alexa Skinner (Goffstown, N.H.) added her fifth of the year as the Keene State College women's soccer team blew past Vermont State University Castleton 5-0 in Little East Conference action Wednesday night at Dave Wolk Stadium.

Records
  • Keene State:  4-2-3, 1-0-2 LEC
  • Vermont State Castleton:  1-8, 0-3 LEC
How It Happened
Playing solid defense in recent games that helped provide KSC a 1-0-2 record in their last three games but still in search of more goals, the Owls found them in bunches on the road in league action to pick up an important victory against a Spartans team that suffered their seventh consecutive loss.  Devine scored the opening two goals of the game barely over four minutes apart early in the second half as part of a 3-0 lead that took only 20:55 to build.  Keene State led by that margin at the break before tacking on two more in a little less than 14 minutes in the second half to score five goals in a game for the third time since the beginning of the 2021 season.

Devine's first score that gave the Owls the lead came after Castleton cleared KSC's corner kick chance but was jammed up by Claire Halligan and Elizabeth Tschudin, the latter of which found Giuliana Stolfi, who then chipped a ball ahead for Devine in the box.  Spartans keeper Emma Ezzo aggressively came out of her net, but it did not work out, as Devine got past her and a VTSU defender and had more or less a wide open net to shoot at and give Keene State the early advantage.  It did not take long for that lead to grow, and it again came as a result of a corner kick that saw the Owls' season scoring leaders connect as Skinner fed a ball into Devine right in front, who gathered the ball down and beat Ezzo to the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead with 28:10 left in the first half.

Skinner got in the goal action herself only a few minutes after that, continuing her proficiency on free kicks when she fired a ball from 25 yards out through bodies in front that again beat Ezzo to her left.  The Spartans' keeper got a finger on it and deflected it, but it still comfortably went in as KSC scored three times in only 8:11 after scoring five goals in their previous six games.  Castleton had managed only two shots, one on target, by the time KSC had three goals on the board.

The Spartans pushed to gain any kind of momentum as the half went on and they had a brief flurry with about 15 minutes to go, but Sonia Moritz grabbed a shot from Becky Hannwacker and the Owls' defense allowed only one shot that was blocked on successive corner kicks in the 32nd minute.  Keene State led 3-0 at halftime.

Out of the locker room, Vermont State Castleton found slightly more offensive chances – but they never amounted to much, particularly when KSC piled on two more goals in the opening 25 minutes to put the game completely out of reach if it was not already.  In the 56th minute, Elizabeth Kopicko's touch found Halligan in the middle after some effective passing, and Halligan then freed Skinner who was nearly in alone to complete her hat trick and make it 4-0.

The cherry on top of the five-goal night came at the 69:23 mark when KSC added a career-first goal to the previous hat trick.  With Castleton attempting to clear, the Allison Yanski settled the ball and got it to Emily O'Connell in the middle.  From there, two first years connected as she slid a pass to Kinsey Donegan on the left side, who then fired a left footed shot from the edge of the box that Ezzo got a hand on but could not save.

Keene State had scored only three goals in their last three games against then-Castleton in the series before the five-spot tonight – the most they have scored in series history (12 games).

"Great LEC win on the road," said Owls head coach Sarah Testo.  "Great team win."

Moritz got the clean sheet and win for KSC, making three stops.  Ezzo made six saves but allows five goals in the loss.

Inside the Box
  • Skinner has five goals and an assist in her last six games.  Her and Devine have combined for 35 shots (27 SOG).
  • KSC had dropped two straight in the series since nicking Castleton 2-1 in the spring of 2020 (April 15).
  • Devine has 18 points (eight goals, two assists) in 29 career games (11 starts, six of which have come this year in her sophomore campaign).
Up Next
  • The Owls, with five points in the conference standings, welcome the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (2-3-3, 0-1-1 LEC) to Dr. Ron Butcher Field for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday (September 30).  The Corsairs stopped a three-game losing streak in which they did not score a goal with a 1-1 tie against LEC foe University of Massachusetts-Boston tonight.
  • Castleton, who has been shut out seven times in nine games, hosts Eastern Connecticut State University (3-4-1, 0-2-1 LEC) on the same day (1:00 p.m.).  ECSU lost 2-1 at home to Rhode Island College today.
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