KEENE, N.H. - The Keene State women's soccer team is headed back to the Little East Tournament championship game. The top-seeded Owls punched their ticket to finals with a 2-0 shutout victory over fourth seed Western Conn. State University in a semifinal game played Thursday night at Owl Athletic Complex.

Senior Kendra Spencer (Petoskey, Mich.) and junior Katie Bradford (Lebanon, N.H.) each scored goals and sophomore goalie Megan Dempsey (East Weymouth, Mass.) made four saves for her fifth shutout of the season to lead the Owls into the finals.

Keene State (14-5-2), which will be making its eighth trip to the finals and its first appearance since 2006, will host second seed Eastern Conn. in the championship game on Saturday at noon. The Warriors blanked third seed UMass-Boston 4-0 in the second semifinal game to advance to the finals.

"It's a long time coming," said KSC Coach Denise Lyons. "The team worked really hard. I told them they had to come fired up from the start and we jumped on them and got a quick goal."
Facing the Colonials for the eighth time in LEC tournament play, the Owls didn't waste anytime getting on the board, scoring on their first shot on net at the 1:15 mark. Spencer sent a shot toward the net that Colonial sophomore goalie Molly Miller (Middlebury, Conn.) mishandled. The ball was redirected by Miller into the net.

"It was a strange goal," said Spencer, who has five goals on the season. "I didn't think it was going in, so when it did I was surprised."

Western Conn. had an opportunity to get the equalizer seven minutes into the second half. Senior Angela Wozniak (Ludlow, Mass.) unleashed a drive that Dempsey was able to jump and tip over the crossbar.

The Colonials, which concludes its season with 10-10-1 record, maintained their pressure in the Owls side of the field. Following a throw-in, senior Nicole Sieber (Newtown, Conn.) had a shot that was stopped by Dempsey at the corner of the net.

The Owls dodged a bullet at the 23:04 mark when junior Lauren Matthews (Monroe, Conn.) pounced on a deflected ball. She walked in alone, but her drive went just wide of the far post.

Later in the half, Bradford went down the left side looking to give KSC a two goal lead, but her low hard drive was handled Miller, who finished the game with four saves. Bradford wouldn't be denied the next time down the field. Taking a feed from senior Molly Brunelle (Walpole, N.H.), Bradford went around a prone Miller and put the ball into the open net for a key insurance goal with just over five minutes to play. It was Bradford's team-leading 14th goal of the season and 44th of her career moving the junior into third place in KSC all-time goal list.

"It was a great goal, "said Lyons. "That's why she is one of the top forwards in the conference."

An aggressive Dempsey, who came off her line to cover up several loose ball in the box, and a solid KSC defense kept the Colonials of the board the rest of the way. "Sometimes we get caught and I have to come out and make the save to help out the team," said the Owls' sophomore keeper.

"She's so solid," said Lyons. "There's a sense of comfort when you have a goalkeeper back there who going to make that save. She's going to make the big one and she's going to make the routine one."

KSC had a slim advantage in shots (12-9) and corners (4-3).

Keene State, which edged ECSU 2-1 in overtime back on Sept. 26, and the Warriors are no strangers in tournament play. The two teams met in three consecutive finals 2003-05. In a scoreless 2003 final, ECSU was award the title on penalty kicks. The Owls came back to win (3-0) in 2004 while the Warriors took the 2005 crown (2-0).