Keene State 2, Worcester State 1

Worcester, MA --- Keene State College sophomore Joe Senecal (Manchaug, MA) notched what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 24th minute to help lift the Owls to a 2-1 triumph this evening over Worcester State University in non conference men's soccer action at Coughlin Field.

Second-year Sean Fortier (Alstead, NH) put the Keen State on the board early into the contest as he sent in his second tally of the season on a deflection off of a Worcester State defender from 10 yards away from the net.

The Owls (6-2) remained aggressive as Senecal tallied his team-leading fifth maker of the year on a cross from the left corner from sophomore Kyle Leavitt (Plymouth, MA).

The visitors would end the period leading in shots (9-2) as Worcester State's best chance to score game in the 32nd minute when junior Julian Morales (Brighton, MA) flicked a pass to junior Justin Biela (Bridgewater, MA), but his header hit the top of the crossbar.

After the intermission the Lancers (2-6) had another great chance to break the shutout as third-year David Gustafson (Webster, MA) made a great bid with his head, but he was denied as sophomore back Blake Nyman (Plymouth, MA) kicked the ball out of harms way just before the ball crossed the plain inside of the net.

Worcester State continued fire shots and they found success in the 56th minute when Biela took a feed from freshman Alex Wolfel (Unionville, CT) to cut into the lead.

But that would cap off the scoring for the remainder of the contest as the Owls would hold a 7-1 edge in shots, which included five on goal.

Senior keeper Tom Conran (S. Windsor, CT) stopped two shots between the pipes for Keene State while his counterpart, junior Evan Wilga (Dudley, MA), registered seven saves.

The game was a very physical one as there were 34 combined fouls and seven yellow cards between the two squads. The Owls also held a 16-7 advantage in shots while both squads were even in corners (5-5).

The two teams will continue conference play on Saturday at 1 PM. Worcester State will head to Framingham State as they look to break an eight game drought against MASCAC opponents while Keene State hosts nationally ranked Eastern Connecticut.