Box Score KEENE, N.H.--The Western New England University men's soccer team earned a gutsy 1-0 non-conference win Wednesday on the road against host Keene State College at Owl Athletic Complex, dropping the Little East Conference-affiliated Owls to 0-4. Western New England won for the third time in four starts.

It's the first time a Ron Butcher-led soccer team at Keene State has started the season with four consecutive losses.  The last time the Owls dropped their first four games was in 1958.

Senior Alex Mazzella picked an opportunistic time to deposit his first career goal in his 35-game WNE career, and the Golden Bears' defense made that lone tally stand up....while shorthanded. The senior midfielder from Chesire (Conn.) High School scored on a counter play in the 18th minute, as senior Ryan Williams and Colin Macdonald were credited with assists.
 
Senior Jon Axton was issued a red card by the game referee in the 12th minute, forcing WNE to play the final 80 minutes with 10 men.
 
"This was undoubtedly one of the grittiest wins in my 14 seasons as head coach at Western New England," Erin Sullivan told WNEGoldenBears.com after the game. "It was truly a total team effort led by our captains and seniors.
 
"Our players rose to the occasion against a talented Keene side that was playing up a man for most of the afternoon and with a desperate edge."

Keene State missed a golden opportunity to score in the opening minutes of play. Junior Nick Godzyk headed a shot that was saved by WNE senior goalie Domenick Villano. Godzyk got his own rebound and appeared to have an open net, but the co-captain came out of nowhere to make a diving save on his shot, keeping KSC off the board.
 
"This performance was reminiscent of some of the great battles between these storied programs over the past four decades. We feel privileged to represent this great soccer program and University," said Sullivan, who ties Bill Downes for the all-time team record with 184 career wins. "Our coaching staff salutes our proud WNE Soccer Alumni and Coach Downes, and is thankful for all the support we have been given by our extended soccer family."

The Owls had a couple more chances to score a few minutes later, as Ian Downing had a shot that hit off the crossbar.

Keene State outshot Western New England 25-10, but couldn't get the ball past Villano, who finished with five saves to notch his third shutout already in 2013.  Malcolm Cheney stopped three shots for the Owls, but he was beaten by Mazzella on WNE's first shot of the game.

KSC continued to rack out scoring opportunities. Sophomore Ben Reif had a drive that just went wide of the net with 6:40 to go in the first half. Looking to get the equalizer in the second half, freshman Rob Hart had a header that just went over the crossbar and senior Scott Douglas had a drive that just missed the far post. Sophomore Eddie Mercer had a couple of opportunities to score late in the second half. He was set up in front by freshman Jake Johnson and later missed on a drive from the left flank.

"We were fortunate to escape danger several times...I am proud of the resiliency, teamwork and versatility our players exhibited throughout a grueling 90 minutes," Sullivan concluded. "Our captains have instilled a blue-collar mentality and relentless edge in this team that makes improbable results like this possible."

Western New England resumes action on Saturday at Gordon College (7 p.m.) in the Commonwealth Coast Conference opener.
 
Keene State hosts Endicott College on a rare Sunday night game (6 p.m.) at Owl Athletic Complex. 

(Editor's note: Keene State Athletics contributed to this game report.)