KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's soccer team hosted Plymouth State University on Wednesday night under the lights at Dr. Ron Butcher field as the Owls looked to pick up the crucial win over the Panthers for Little East Conference standings. After PSU netted a pair of goals in the first half, the Owls were unable to overcome the deficit and PSU took home a 2-1 win over the Owls on the night.
Records
- Keene State: 5-8-2 (1-4-1 LEC)
- Plymouth State: 5-8 (2-4 LEC)
Postgame Interview (Sarah Testo)
How It Happened
The Owl attack opened by applying a lot of pressure in the opening 20 minutes of play. After outshooting PSU, 5-1 over the time span, only one shot reached the goal for the Owls, as Christa Giansiracusa saved
Riley Devine's shot in net for the Panthers. KSC's offense continued to pester the Panther defense with shots over the next 10 minutes, as they got off four more shots, but with a pair of shots missing the target, one shot from
Claire Halligan being blocked, and Giansiracusa saving
Kaylee Cormier's shot, KSC came up empty handed as there was 15 minutes remaining in the opening half. Plymouth State's first shot on goal in the 35th minute resulted in a goal for the Panthers, as Ella Fraser sent a shot past the diving Owls' goalkeeper,
Riley Andriski, to put PSU ahead a goal. 2:20 later, PSU tacked on another goal as Tinda Bergstrand sent a pass into the Owls' box and Emily Wilson headed the ball past Andriski, putting PSU up two with 8:13 left in the half. In the final minutes of the half, Giansiracusa made another save, this time on
Elizabeth Tschudin and a PSU defender saved a breakaway shot on
Allison Kenyon, to give PSU a 2-0 lead heading into the half.
KSC got on the board 1:03 into the second half as Cornier ripped a shot from just outside the Owls' box, over the hands of Giansiracusa to pull the Owls within a goal with plenty of time left on the clock. Tschudin looked to tie the game up at two apiece a few minutes later, but a clearance off the goal line on the shot from a Panther defender preserved the PSU lead for the moment. The Panthers applied the pressure on the other end of the field shortly after, as they had four corner kicks over a two-minute span, but Owls' goalkeeper,
Hannah Verville, who subbed in at halftime, saved a shot from PSU to limit the lead to one for the Panthers. The rest of the contest, the Owls were unable to record a shot on goal as a shot from Tschudin and
Joclynn Tyler both went wide of the goal across the remainder of the game. The final shot on goal on the contest came from Julia Filep, as she was denied by Verville in the 77th minute. The final six minutes of the game saw three fouls against PSU that resulted in Owl free kicks, but KSC was unable to capitalize as PSU took down KSC for just the third time in their 34 meetings and for the first time in Keene in the series history.
Inside the Box
- With the loss, the Owls still lead the all-time series matchup between the two teams, 30-3-1, after PSU snapped the Owls' five-game win streak in the series, where KSC outscored PSU 15-5.
- KSC outshot the PSU, 16-6, including 7-4 in shots on goal, to go with an 8-6 corner kick advantage.
- After entering the goal at the half, Verville recorded a pair of saves in net on the two shots that she faced. Giansiracusa recorded three saves in goal across her 90 minutes in goal.
- Tschudin once again led KSC in shots with a game-high of four across her full 90 minutes played, while she tied Cormier for a game-high in shots on goal, with two shots on goal each.
- With the loss, the Owls currently have four points in the LEC standings, with the two remaining games coming against first place, University of Southern Maine (5-0 in LEC, 10-2-2 overall) and Rhode Island College (1-4-1 in LEC, 6-7-2 overall). Click here for the full LEC women's soccer standings
Up Next
The Owls' next game is their final regular season conference away game of 2024, as they will travel to take on USM on Saturday, October 19, at 3:00 PM.
Plymouth State returns home for their next contest, as they will host Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday, October 19, at 1:00 PM for their last home regular season LEC contest of 2024.