KEENE, N.H.- The Wheaton College men's soccer team hit the road for the first time this fall and also suffered its initial loss, a 2-1 overtime setback at non-league foe Keene State College on Saturday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.  These teams are no stranger to overtime in their series, as four of the last seven meetings have gone at least one extra session.

Playing in their second overtime contest of the season, the Lyons fall to 3-1, while Keene State, which is also now 3-1, collected its second straight overtime victory after knocking off New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) school Springfield College in double overtime on Wednesday.

After each team scored a goal in the opening half, neither squad found the back of the net for over 59 minutes of game action, until the hosts picked up the winner with 3:13 to play in the first overtime.  Sophomore Michael Jacques (Tolland, Conn./Bridgton Academy) posted the deciding goal, while senior Ian Ferguson (Millwood, N.Y./Horace Greely) was credited with the assist.

Sophomore Travis Blair (Hastings, N.Y./Hastings) scored for the third time in as many games, as the forward gave the visitors a 1-0 lead midway through the opening stanza.  Classmate Jacob Battipaglia (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) set Blair up with the pass.

Following a corner kick, the Owls tied things up at 37:29, when junior Bryce Lawlor (Woodbury, Conn./Nonnewaug) connected with senior Blake Nyman (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South).  Wheaton held a 14-9 first-half edge in shots, but Keene State doubled up the Lyons by a 10-5 count in the second frame before taking all four of the overtime attempts.

In the extra session, Wheaton sophomore keeper Jeff Paer (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn) made two saves while seeing another shot sail wide through the first five-plus minutes, but the Keene State attack proved to be too much as the Owls eventually broke through.

Paer had seven saves in net for the Lyons, while his counterpart, junior Malcolm Cheney (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton), also had seven stops.

Keene ended up with 23 shots to Wheaton's 19, while the Blue and White edged the Owls in corners at 7-6.

Wheaton will take the week off from competition and return to the pitch next Saturday for its NEWMAC opener at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at 1:30 p.m.