Men’s Soccer Can’t Hold Off Late Surge at Keene State

KEENE, N.H.--Freshman Riley Steele set up the equalizer, then scored the game winner with less than 10 minutes remaining to give the Keene State College men's soccer team a 2-1 win over Framingham State University on Wednesday night at Owl Athletic Complex.

It was the fifth straight win for the Owls, who improve to 8-5 on the season, ahead of Saturday's crunch Little East Conference showdown with UMass Boston.  Framingham State, which had won the last two meetings between these two schools, falls to 4-7-2.

The Rams went ahead in the 20th minute through Cory Carderio (Fall River, Mass), who picked up a loose ball and fired past KSC goalie Mike Ketterman for his fifth goal of the season.

The goal spurred KSC into action, but the Owls could not get past Framingham State goalie Jacob Nichols (Sturbridge, Mass).  Brett Sullivan was denied by Nichols, who followed up with a double save on Eddie Mercer and Michael Jacques in the 28th minute.  Three minutes later, Mercer cracked a shot off the right post.

Five minutes before halftime, Nichols was on hand to deny Samuel Binogono and keep Framingham State up 1-0 at halftime.

After the restart, Keene State was level almost immediately.  Steele raced down the left side to set up Kaleb Lique-Naitove, who scored his first goal of the season in the 47th minute.

Steele gave KSC the win in the 82nd minute.  Nick Godzyk's shot was saved by Nichols, but the rebound fell right to Steele, who slotted home the winner with his second goal of the year.

Nichols made 10 saves, eight of which came in the first half.  Mike Ketterman was called upon to make three stops.  KSC outshot the Rams 23-5.

As mentioned, the Owls will host UMass Boston on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Owl Athletic Complex.  Framingham State heads to MASCAC rival Fitchburg State on Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

*Release courtesy of Keene St. sports information*