WESTFIELD, Mass. – Keene State first-year Grace Seabury (Wakefield, Mass.) buried a loose ball inside the fan in extra time of the first half as the goal would hold as the lone score for either side as Keene defeated Westfield State 1-0 in a non-conference game from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass. on Tuesday night.
Keene improves to 6-2 on the season and have now won their last three games. Westfield drops to 2-5 on the year.
The scoring started and finished with Seabury as Keene was awarded a penalty corner in the closing seconds of the first half. With the Owls unable to gain possession, the clock remained at zero giving Keene a final chance to convert which ended with Seabury's second goal of the season.
Keene's defense stifled Westfield throughout the game, especially in the first half where Westfield generated just three total shots and one on net in the first 30 minutes of play.
There was no scoring in the second half, but Westfield had multiple scoring chances within the final minutes of the third period. The first chance came on a three-on-two downfield push for Westfield with Sarah Richard (Templeton, Mass.) feeding a pass to Skyla Harthcock (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) who fired a shot towards the net that was denied by Keene goalkeeper Clara Gorman (Stratham, N.H.).
In the closing minute of the third period, Westfield was awarded with their first penalty corner of the night, but failed to produce a shot. In a final effort to get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, Westfield unloaded a pair of shots within ten seconds of one another off the sticks of Sadie Stauffer (Suffield, Conn.) and Bre Foley (South Hadley, Mass.), but the Keene defense and Gorman stopped both attempts, preserving the shutout.
The Westfield defense was also stout in the contest with Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.) and Paige Reisman (Milford, Mass.) splitting halves in net. Gniadek (L, 1-4) recorded five saves with Reisman stopping all four shots on net. Keene held the shots advantage (19-10) but the second half was even at seven shots apiece.
Westfield State will hit the road for their next contest, matching up against undefeated Western New England (6-0) on Thursday at 7:00 P.M. Keene State will begin conference play on Friday as they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a 7:00 P.M. start time.