KEENE, N.H. – For the first time since 2021, the Keene State College women's soccer team was able to defeat Westfield State University, as Emily O'Connell's penalty kick goal in the 58th minute was the lone goal in the contest and the Owls took home the 1-0 victory.

Records

• Keene State: 2-3
• Westfield State: 0-3-1

How it Happened


Both teams were on the attack early in the contest as after Keene State's goalkeeper, Riley Andriski saved her first shot of seven faced on the day, Westfield State's goalie Julia Robak made three saves of her own in as many minutes shortly after. Through the next 12 minutes to the halfway mark both goalies continued to hold their ground as Andriski made another pair of saves and Robak made three more to keep the game scoreless. KSC continued to apply the pressure on WSU the rest of the first half, but Robak held strong in goal as she made five more saves, compared to one more from Andriski as the teams headed into halftime tied 0-0.
 
 Each goalkeeper recorded a save over the first two minutes of the second half, but it was 10 minutes until the next shot on target as at the 57:14 mark, Emily O'Connell had an open goal except for Gabby Stolfi defending it with Robak off her line and O'Connell's shot rang off her arm on the goal line, resulting in a red card. On the ensuing penalty kick, O'Connell found the back of the net for her first goal of the year to put the Owls up a goal with 32:46 remaining in the battle of the Owls. Over the next 10 minutes, WSU looked for the equalizing goal, but both their shots missed the target, while the two shots from KSC saw one saved by Robak and another by Kayla Santucci, who replaced Robak at 65:09. As the half started to come to a close, Andriski made another two more saves to hold the game scoreless as the clock started to get under 10 minutes remaining. The last shot on goal by WSU on the day came from the edge of the box and after being deflected by a KSC defender and going out of reach of Andriski, Giuliana Stolfi cleared the shot off the line for KSC as she prevented WSU from tying the game up. KSC was able to possess the ball for a majority of the remainder of the contest as they would eventually hold on for the 1-0 victory to get back in the win column.
 
Inside the Box

• KSC improves to 18-9-1 in the all-time series between the two teams, snapping WSU's three-game winning streak where they outscored KSC 13-1.
• KSC had a large advantage on shots 27-16, including those on goal too as they doubled WSU 16-8, with KSC also having a slight corner kick advantage, 7-6.
• O'Connell netted her first goal of the year for two points, after tallying a pair of goals and five assists for nine points in 2024.
• Andriski finished the contest with seven saves in her first game back since KSC's second game of the season.

Up Next


Keene State is back at home for the third of three consecutive home games on Saturday as the Owls kick off conference play against Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday, September 13, at 12:00 PM.
Westfield State is on the road for their second of three consecutive road games as they travel to take on Fitchburg State University on Saturday, September 13, at 11:00 AM.