Owl Soccer Teams Set for Weekend Tournaments

KEENE, N.H., 9/2/10 – Keene State men’s and women’s soccer teams will play in early-season tournaments this weekend.  The Keene State men’s team will host the Xara tournament at Owl Athletic Complex while the Owl women travel to Rochester Institute of Technology for the Rachael Miller tournament.

Tournament action begins on Saturday.  The first-round of the Xara tournament has Fitchburg State going up against St. Josephs College of Maine at 12 p.m.  The host Owls kick off against Kean (N.J.) University at 2 p.m.   The teams switch opponents on Sunday, with Kean taking on St. Joseph at noon and KSC facing Fitchburg at 2:30 p.m.

The opening-round of the Rachael Miller tournament has Keene State playing Cortland State at 11:30 a.m. and RIT battling John Carroll University of Ohio at 2 p.m. Consolation and championship games are scheduled for 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively on Sunday.

Both Keene State teams netted opening-season wins on Wednesday, with the men defeating New England College (3-1) and the Owl women blanking Johnson & Wales University 3-0.

Keene State men’s soccer coach Ron Butcher expects a competitive tournament. “It should be a good opening tournament for us,” he said.  “We’ll be able to answer some questions about the team after this weekend.”

The game between Keene State and Kean will have two long-time coaches facing each other.  Butcher is in his 40th season with the Owls, while Tony Ochrimenko has coached the Cougars, who opened the season with a 5-2 win against John Jay College, since 1976.

At the other side of the ledger, Fitchburg State is under the direction of first-year coach Werner Thissen.  Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s is returning to the field after a highly successful season that saw the Monks capture a first-ever GNAC championship and NCAA berth.

Keene State women’s soccer coach Denise Lyons is also looking forward to this weekend’s games. “This will be our first real test of the season,” she said. “We have four new players in our starting line-up, so it will be interesting to see how they perform against a pair of strong opponents.”

Cortland State began its season with a 4-2 loss to #16 William Smith College on Wednesday. The Red Dragons finished 12-5-3 last season and advanced to the SUNYAC tournament championship game.

The John Caroll Blue Streaks, who dropped their season-opener to Hiram College (1-0) on Wednesday, are under the direction of head coach Tracy Blasius. Blasius was named the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after JCU rebounded from a 2-8-1 start and won seven of its final nine matches.

 At Rochester Institute of Technology, Liz Masterson has taken over the Tigers' program.