Keene State’s women’s soccer team fell short in their homecoming contest against the University of New England (UNE) in a close 2-1 game on Saturday, Sept. 14.
The Owls went into Saturday’s game with a winning record of 3-2, and coming off of a 4-0 shutout loss. The UNE Nor’easters had just won two in a row, both by large margins, and looking to extend the streak.
Keene State began the game with possession and quickly set the tone for the game with pressure on the Nor’easter defense. The early pressure led to an Owl goal at the 6:39 mark by sophomore midfielder Emily O’Connell, her first of the season.
The first half continued with an early Keene State lead as UNE flipped the switch and put the pressure back on the Owls. A corner kick and a shot put the home team on their heels while up by one. The pressure continued until the Nor’easters were able to put one away and tie the game at 1-1 at the 22nd minute of the first half.
UNE kept up with the onslaught and put the Owls on defense following their game tying goal. Two corner kicks and a shot stopped by junior goaltender Riley Andriski kept the Owls tied as they tried to slip the momentum. The UNE Nor’easters refused to let up and scored their second goal in the 31st minute to take the lead at 2-1.
The rest of half was all Keene State as they were able to fire some shots at net, which were all denied. This flurry at the end of the half set the stage for an entertaining second half with a 2-1 UNE lead.
The second half was quite lackluster in terms of scoring, but impressive defense was shown by both teams. While unable to score much throughout the game, the Owls did have a stellar performance on defense and in net.
Andriski had a total of nine saves throughout the game, facing 11 shots on net. Both defenses stayed strong and would not let their team be vulnerable enough to either extend the lead or tie the game.
Keene State threw everything at Nor’easter in efforts to tie up the game, but the final 45 minutes were not enough for the Owls to climb back. The final buzzer rang and the Keene State Women’s Soccer team took their second loss in a row. They now standat 3-3 on the season while keeping their impressive winning record at home.
The Owls will take on Worcester State at home on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m, another out of conference opponent for the Keene State Women’s Soccer team.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
