Box Score (Courtesy of Keene State College Sports Information)
KEENE, N.H. -- Junior Brain Swindell's (Milford, Mass.) goal 2:22 into the first overtime lifted the Keene State College men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over the University of Southern Maine in a Little East Conference game played at Owl Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The win was the fifth in the last six games for the Owls who are now 6-2 overall and 2-0 in LEC games. The Huskies, who suffered their fifth straight loss, fell to 1-7 and 0-2 in conference play.
Senior back Ian Ferguson (Millwood, N.Y.) set up the winning goal by lofting the ball into the box. Swindell headed the ball into far corner for his second goal in as many games.
Southern Maine opened the scoring at the 5:19 mark of the first half. Freshman Luke Pugsley (Kennebunk, Maine/Milton [Mass.]) sent a short pass ahead to classmate Harrison Hall (Kennebunkport, Maine/Kennebunk) who buried a hard shot in the far corner of the net.
After a sluggish first half, Keene State took control of the game and got the equalizer at the 57:06 mark of the second half. USM senior goalie Jeremy Turner (Portland, Maine/Deering) was able to make the initial stop on a shot by KSC senior Kyle Leavitt (Plymouth, Mass.), but senior Preston Ingram (Derby, Vt.) knocked in the rebound to knot the score with his first goal of the season.
Keene State had several opportunities to win the game in regulation. Turner came up big, diving to make a save on a bid by Swindell later in the half.
KSC senior goalie Malcolm Cheney (Hopkinton, Mass.) finished the game with three saves. Turner tuned aside 10 shots for Southern Maine.
Keene State outshot USM 22-8, limiting the visitors to just three shots in the second half and overtime. The Owls had a wide 12-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday. Keene State is at Babson College (3:30 p.m.) and Southern Maine returns home to face Colby College (4 p.m.).
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