Keene State Men’s Soccer lost its second-to-last Little East Conference (LEC) match to the Wolves of Western Connecticut State University (WestConn) 2-1 in a physical home matchup. Keene State came into the match with a record of 3-9-3, having won its previous match against Worcester State on the Owls’ senior night. WestConn arrived in Keene with a record of 12-3-5, looking to break a streak of two ties.
The match started slowly, with only a single shot from Keene State in the first 10 minutes. Even so, the match already had a physical edge, with five fouls in the first 20 minutes of play. 22 minutes in, WestConn earned the first of many yellow cards after a hard slide tackle. The shooting finally warmed up midway through the half, with Keene State amassing seven shots total. Despite the high shot volume, the Owls only managed one shot on goal.
WestConn managed four shots over the whole half, but doubled Keene State with two shots on goal.
The second half of the match began well for WestConn, opening with a goal from a penalty kick to go up 1-0. Over the next six minutes, six fouls were assessed between the Wolves and the Owls. Keene State’s defense successfully blocked three of the Wolves’ four next shots, but a missed rebound allowed WestConn to put one in the back of the net and go up 2-0. The Owls closed the two-goal lead with a goal off of a Keene State penalty kick. Despite the one-goal difference, the Owls failed to convert the remaining chances they had and fell to the Wolves 2-1.
Both teams made four saves and faced nearly the same number of shots, with WestConn edging Keene State out on shots 16-15. The match was intensely physical, with eight yellow cards administered to eight separate players. The two teams combined for 31 fouls, with Keene State being assessed 21 of them.
The Owls look forward to a long-shot selection in the LEC tournament, hoping to make the opening round of playoffs on Oct. 31. The Owls are currently ranked eighth in the conference; the top six qualify for playoffs.
Frank LeBlanc can be contacted at
fleblanc@kscequinox.com
