NASHUA, N.H. – The Keene State College women's soccer team only needed 6:39 to score the first goal of their 2025 season and they never looked back in their season opener at Rivier University. After jumping to an early 1-0 lead, the Owls never trailed the rest of the way as they held the Raiders off for a 4-2 win.

Records

• Keene State: 1-0
• Rivier: 0-1

How it Happened

It took just under seven minutes into the Owls' 2025 season for KSC to find the back of the net after the Owls caused the Raiders to turn the ball over, leading to Elizabeth Tschudin sending a pass out ahead to Bryn Dickinson past the last line of the Raiders' defense. Dickinson easily dribbled the ball into the Raiders' box and sent a shot past Olivia Rosario in net to put the Owls ahead early. Rivier answered shortly after with a goal of their own as Bailey Gatchell scored her first goal of the game 10:09 into the contest. 25:23 into the contest Kayla DiPasquale entered the contest for the Owls for her first time in her collegiate career and immediately made an impact. 4:57 after entering the contest, DiPasquale scored her first collegiate goal to put KSC ahead 2-1 as Dickinson added another point assisting DiPasquale on the goal. Rosario saved her first shot of the contest with 11 minutes remaining in the half and the Owls' defense held solid as they blocked the final three shots from Rivier in the half to take a 2-1 lead heading into the second.
 
Both goalkeepers, Rosario and Riley Andriski saved the first two shots in goal that they faced in the second half as the Owls were able to hold off an offensive push that included three corners from Rivier. After playing the entire first half, Tschudin's 10 minutes of rest later in the second half seemed to pay off almost instantly as just under four minutes after she reentered the game, she assisted DiPasquale for her second goal of the game to put the Owls up 3-1 with 11:23 remaining. Gatchell responded for the Raiders by scoring her second goal of the game as well, 1:39 later to make it a one goal game once again. The rest of the way the Owls were able to hold off the Raiders and even tack on one more insurance goal in the final minute to double up Rivier. Allison Kenyon sent a pass off an indirect kick to Tschudin who fired a shot into the back of the net to give KSC the 4-2 win on the day.
 
"It was a great start to the season" said Owls' Head Coach Sarah Testo. "Big games out of Liz and Bryn, with Riley having a great game in net with a big save in the second half. Also a big game from Kayla as she put two goals in as her first game as an Owl."
 
Inside the Box

• KSC improves to 4-0 in the all-time series as they have outscored the Raiders 16-3 over the four matchups.
• Tschudin recorded a career-high points in the contest coming from her goal and pair of assists, while DiPasquale also recorded four points from her two goals coming on her first two shot attempts of her time as an Owl.
• Rivier took 16 shots to 10 from KSC but the Owls' shots were more efficient as they had seven shots on target (70%) compared to just four from Rivier (25%).
• Andriski finished the contest with a pair of saves, while Rosario finished the game with three saves.
• KSC only had three corner kicks in the victory while Rivier had seven throughout the 90 minutes.

Up Next
Keene State opens their 2025 home contests in their next game as the Owls host Roger Williams University on Monday, September 1, at 1:00 PM.
Rivier plays yet another LEC team to open their 2025 season as they will look to get in the win column against Western Connecticut State University at home for their next contest on Tuesday, September 2, at 6:00 PM.