Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Senior Eddie Mercer (South Hadley, Mass.) scored a pair of second half goals to lead the Keene State College Owls to a 2-0 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's soccer game Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
With the win, Keene State extends its win-streak to two games and improves to 1-0 in the Little East Conference and 2-4 overall. Southern Maine suffers its fifth straight loss to stand at 1-5-1 and 0-1 in the LEC.
The Owls, despite outshooting Southern Maine 12-3, in the opening half were locked with the Huskies at 0-0 through the first 45 minutes of action. Husky freshman goalkeeper Simon Hulbert (Bar Harbor, Maine/Mount Desert Island) made five saves in the opening stanza, including a gutsy save on a breakaway attempt from freshman Jacob Papanicolaou (Tucson, Ariz./Worcester Prep).
The Owls opened the second half with a flurry of near-misses including a pair of shots that rang off the posts in the 55th and the 57th minute from senior Brett Sullivan (Barrington, R.I.) and junior Jacob Blueglass (Somers, N.Y.) respectively. Mercer finally broke through for the Owls in the 60th minute when he hit a low ball to the near post that skipped under the hands of Hulbert for a 1-0 advantage.
Mercer doubled the KSC lead in the 68th minute converting a penalty kick. With the Owls putting pressure on the Huskies, Hulbert made a pair of strong saves before Bluegrass broke free in the box and was tackled illegally by a USM defender setting up the penalty attempt. Hulbert guessed correctly, but Mercer's shot was struck solidly to earn the goal in the 68th minute.
Keene State had an opportunity for a third goal when it was awarded another penalty shot in the 81st minute as Hulbert earned a red card for an infraction in the box. Mercer again lined up to take the shot for the Owls, but USM junior Ian Byron (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely) – on in relief of Hulbert – came in cold to make the save.
KSC finished the game with a 30-6 advantage in shots and a 9-3 lead in corner kicks. Hulbert made 11 saves to take the loss, while Byron turned back three in 9:25 of action. KSC Mark Keller made two saves in the shut out victory.
Southern Maine remains in Little East Conference action for its next game traveling to the University of Massachusetts Boston next Saturday (5:00 p.m.). Keene State hosts Green Mountain College on Thursday (6:00 p.m.) in non-conference action.
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