KEENE, N.H., – The Keene State College women's soccer team returned home Saturday and saw Emily O'Connell, Kendall Healey, and Joclynn Tyler each net their first goals of the season for the Owls (with O'Connell scoring her first career collegiate goal), as KSC stuffed the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 3-0 in Little East Conference action at Dr. Ron Butcher Field.

Records

• Keene State: 5-2-3, 2-0-2 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth: 2-4-3, 0-2-1 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Testo)
Postgame Interview (Sonia Moritz)

How It Happened
The first half would not see too much action as the teams would trade possessions back-and-forth. Keene State's Emily O'Connell would get the first shot for either team on the day, 24 minutes into the match; she would fire a shot on net from outside the box that UMass-Dartmouth goalkeeper, Grace Conti, was able to scoop up and keep the match scoreless. Later in the half, with under 10 minutes remaining, Kendall Healey sent a pass up the field to Katie Hattie who would juke out a defender just inside the Corsairs' box and fire off a shot on net, but Conti was able to make the save by deflecting the ball off the left post and jumping onto the loose ball to prevent any rebound shots from the lurking Owls. The first half was looking like it was going to end without any goals being scored, until with just over a minute left in the half, Christina Sanders would send the ball across the box that O'Connell would redirect over the diving Conti, off the left post and into the back of the net for her first career collegiate goal, putting the Owls up 1-0 heading into halftime.
 
Keene State would continue to apply the pressure on UMass-Dartmouth entering the second half as they would have two shots soon after the start of the second half. Alexa Skinner would take the first shot from outside the box, that Conti was able to save. Although a few minutes later, Claire Halligan was able to get a shot off that would make it past the charging Conti, but the left post would bail Conti out as the ball would ring off it and back into play where the Corsairs were able to clear it. As the contest was closing in on 22 minutes remaining, Elizabeth Tschudin weaved her way through the UMass-Dartmouth defense and sent a pass to the top of the box over to Healey, who would take a touch and send a rocket on net that Conti was able to get a mitt on, but not able to keep out of the net, putting the Owls up 2-0. Sonia Moritz would face her first shot of the day in the 78th minute as Mya Parker took a shot from outside the box that Moritz was easily able to catch. With just over eight remaining, Moritz made another save in net for the Owls that would, just 40 seconds later, lead to Isabella Moran sending a pass to Tyler in the Corsairs half of the field. After collecting the pass, Tyler blew past a Corsair defender and got off a shot that went past the charging Conti and into the back of the net, putting the Owls up 3-0. Neither team would score the rest of the way as the Owls would pick up three points in LEC play with the 3-0 win over the Corsairs. 
 
Conti made four saves in net for UMass-Dartmouth. Moritz only needed to make two saves on the day, off the three shots that the Corsairs were able to get off. Over Moritz's five full games played, she has a record of 3-0-2, posting three shutouts, while making 17 saves, and only allowing two goals (.895 SV%). 
 
In her post game interview, Moritz credited her team for the shutout on the day and emphasized how great they have been so far this season, "I thought my team played really well to help me, my defense had an amazing game, so I got the easiness of it all… They have been amazing, I mean I would not have three shut outs, if it were not for them. We communicate really well, and we are all a team."
 
Head Coach Sarah Testo also praised the defense, along with Moritz's recently play, "She has been great, she has been distributing the ball well, she's playing confident coming off her line, she looks good. Our defense has been great, they communicate really well, they are playing compacted, they are winning all the 50-50s, their confidence is growing too, which is awesome."
 
Inside the Box

• Keene State improves to 29-2-2 all time against UMass-Dartmouth, going 9-0-1 over the past ten meetings, outscoring the Corsairs 23-6.
• Keene State outshot UMass-Dartmouth 10-3, as the Owls attack was able to muster a lot of shots, and the defense held solid, as they did not allow a shot until the 78th minute. 
• Healey and Tyler scored their first goals of the season, to go along with O'Connell's first career collegiate goal. Healey tallied three points last year for her freshman season with a goal and an assist, while Tyler tallied eight points, coming from three goals and two assists in her freshman season, as well.

Up Next

Keene State travels to Framingham State on Wednesday, October 4 at 4:30 PM for their next match.
UMass-Dartmouth will travel to Bristol, Rhode Island as they will face Roger Williams on Tuesday, October 3 at 7:00 PM for their next match.