Keene State Rallies Late To Upend Men's Soccer, 3-2

Keene, NH --- Despite one goal and an assist by senior Alex Wolfel (Unionville, CT), Keene State rallied with two consecutive goals over the final 20 minutes of play to knock off Worcester State, 3-2, in non-conference men's soccer action this evening at Owl Athletic Complex on Wednesday night.

With the win the Owls snapped a five game losing streak to start the season and improve to 1-5 while the Lancers fall to 1-2-3 with the loss.

WSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute when Wolfel sent a cross to classmate Phil Cepeda (Southbridge, MA) who headed the ball past Keene State senior goalie Malcolm Cheney (Hopkinton, MA).

The Owls notched the equalizer in the 25th minute when junior Nick Godzyk (Wilmington, MA) sent a short lead pass to third-year Kaleb Lique-Naitove (Keene, NH) who buried the ball in the top left corner of the net for his first career goal.

Later in the half, Keene State had a golden opportunity to take the one-goal edge as senior Scott Douglas (East Greenwich, RI) sent a cross into the box that sophomore Eddie Mercer (South Hadley, MA) failed to convert.

Mercer's first shot hit off the post and Lancer sophomore net minder Nick Zucco (Ludlow, MA) came back into the play to make a save on his second attempt.     

The Blue and Gold took the lead back on a penalty kick after freshman Jonathan Silva (Worcester, MA) was taken down in the box and Wolfel tallied the score on the penalty in the 63rd minute for the 2-1 advantage.

The Owls continued to miss scoring opportunities as Douglas hit the post on a free kick with 15:27 remaining in regulation. 

However, Keene State's persistence finally paid off less than a minute later when senior Brian Swindell (Milford, MA) sent the ball toward the goal and it bent into the left corner for the tying goal.

Keeping the pressure on, KSC took its first lead of the game when sophomore Dylan Bisceglia (New Boston, NH) scored on a rebound in the 82nd minute for the 3-2 score.

WSU had multiple chances to tie the game in the waning moments but were stonewalled on back-to-back occasions by Cheney.

First he stopped a point-blank shot by freshman Tanner Bzdel (Southampton, MA) in the 83rd minute and then made a diving save on a close-range shot by Cepeda with 2:33 to play off a corner kick attempt. 

Keene State had a 35-11 advantage in shots to go along with a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.

Cheney finished the game with four saves while his counterpart, Zucco, stopped nine shots for the Lancers.

Keene State begins Little East Conference play on Saturday when they host rival Plymouth State at 7 PM and Worcester State returns home to face off with MASCAC conference foe MCLA at 2 PM.

Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Keene State Sports Information