KEENE, N.H. - Sophomore forward Katie Bradford (Lebanon, N.H.) netted three goals Tuesday evening to lead third seed Keene State to a 4-0 shutout victory over sixth seed Plymouth State University in the Little East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament at Owl Athletic Complex.

            Keene State (15-6) will travel to Eastern Connecticut on Thursday to face the second-seeded  Warriors in a semifinal game on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PSU concludes its season with a 5-9-4 mark.

            Bradford, who leads the LEC with 17 goals, opened the scoring for the Owls at the 15:21 mark of the first half and added two second half goals. 

            Senior Michelle Boland had an opportunity to give the owls an early lead, but Panther freshman goalie Angelina LaBroad (Hampton, N.H.) just got her finger tips on the ball and steered in wide of the post.

            Bradford and Boland netted goals 52 second apart to give KSC a 2-0 lead.  Bradford took a lead pass from freshman Samantha Jo Saltalamaccia (Sandown, N.H.) and beat LaBroad with a shot into the far corner of the net. 

            Less than a minute later, LaBroad got a piece of Boland's shot, but the ball had enough momentum to make it into the net.

            KSC had a pair of opportunities to increase its lead with 14 minutes to go in the 

half. A drive by junior Molly Brunelle (Walpole, N.H.) was corralled by LaBroad and Boland's attempt just missed the far post.

            The Owls added to their lead less than a minute into the second half. Sent in alone by Saltalamaccia, Bradford went top shelf for her second of the game.

            LaBroad kept the Owls at bay with a pair of nice saves off the foot of sophomore Nora Mahoney (Belchertown, Mass.) and Brunelle.

            Bradford's third goal of the game made it a 4-0 game at the 61:20 mark. She went around Labroad and tucked the ball into the open net.

            A busy Labroad, who finished with 16 saves, continued her strong play, stopping a breakaway shot by freshman Tara Nathan (Bethel, Conn.) with nine minutes to play.  

            Owl junior goalie stopped five shots to notch her third shutout of the season.

            KSC has never lost to the Panthers in five LEC tournament meetings. 

(Courtesy of Keene State Sports Information) 

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