WESTFIELD – Westfield State freshman, Brodie Keene (Feeding Hills, Mass./ Agawam), scored two goals to lead the Owls in their MASCAC home opener against Fitchburg State, 5-3, in men’s soccer action on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Alumni Field.
Fitchburg jumped out to their only lead of the game in the 27th minute with the first of Jared Burns’ (E. Bridgewater, Mass./ E. Bridgewater) two goals. Mauro Gimenez-Carrasco (Fitchburg, Mass./ North Central Charter) drew Owls’ keeper Alex Kraver (West Springfield, Mass./ West Springfield) out of goal and into space before setting up Burns for the 1-0 advantage.
BRODIE KEENE
Keene answered five minutes later when he blocked a failed clearance attempt before gathering the ball in space and beating the keeper one-on-one.
The Owls would score two more goals, both set up by Connor Gilbert (Melrose, Mass./ Melrose), over the next eight minutes to stake a 3-1 advantage going into half. In the 37th minute, Gilbert fed a long cross from the far left side of the field connecting with Legend Mu’min (Springfield, Mass./ Central) for his second goal on the year.
In the 39th minute, a streaking Gilbert forced a Falcon penalty 15 yards outside the box. Cam Ritter (Agawam, Mass./ Agawam) drove the free kick into the bottom right of the goal finishing the half’s scoring.
Gilbert extended the Owl lead to 4-1 in the 68th minute via a Kevin Bengle (West Springfield, Mass./ West Springfield) assist.
The Falcons pulled within two immediately following the Gilbert goal. Franck Wansi (Lynn, Mass./ Lynn English) forced a diving Kramer save but Zachary Young (Capo Beach, Calif./ San Juan Hills) was able to gather the ball and take advantage of the unmanned net.
Keene bookended the Owls’ scoring by picking up his second goal in the 79th minute when James Murphy (Wilmington, Mass./ Wilmington) sprung him free on a through ball played past the Falcons back line just outside the penalty box.
Kramer had six saves to help the Owls improve to 2-5-1 overall, 2-0 in conference, while the Falcons slip to 3-5 and 0-2.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 30, Westfield travels to Milton, Mass. to face Curry College at 7:00 p.m. and Fitchburg heads to Nichols College for a 4:00 p.m. start.
