Kankam’s Second Half Hat Trick Pushes Men’s Soccer Past Keene State

David Kankam’s natural hat trick lifted MCLA past Keene State 3-1 tonight in men’s soccer action.

David Kankam’s natural hat trick lifted MCLA past Keene State 3-1 tonight in men’s soccer action.
David Kankam’s natural hat trick lifted MCLA past Keene State 3-1 tonight in men’s soccer action.
October 17, 2023
Video Box Score

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.— Sophomore forward David Kankam scored three times in a span of less than ten minutes at the start of the second half to push the MCLA Men's Soccer team past Keene State College 3-1, tonight in nonconference action at Shewcraft Filed.

THE BASICS:

  • Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023
  • Score: Keene State 1, MCLA 3
  • Records: Keene State Owls 8-4-2 (Little East 5-0-2) | MCLA Trailblazers 5-6-1 (MASCAC 1-3-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Keene State grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute when a Christian Cinque header off a Declan Coughlin corner kick squirted through the mitts of starting MCLA keeper Ryan Taylor.
  • Kankam's first goal of the evening came in the 48th minute as he collected a perfect through ball from Traizen Griffith and beat Keene State goalie Eldin Husanovich (L, 1-1-0) high on the short side to knot the game at 1-1.
  • The hosts would go ahead 2-1 just under seven minutes later as a two-on-one with Benjamin Bonsu resulted in Kankam burying a rebound in the back of the Owl net for his second goal of the game.
  • With the momentum completely shifted in the Trailblazers' favor, Kankam completed the natural hattrick in the 57th minute capitalizing on another rebound after a Liam Gibney blast stretched Husanovich out of position allowing Kankam to pick up the loose change to put MCLA up 3-1.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Kankam's hat trick was the first multi-goal game of his career.
  • After being outshot 4-2 in the first, the Trailblazers dominated the second half outshooting the Owls 16-6 (16-10 in the game) forcing Husanovich to make four saves in the loss.
  • MCLA goalie Richard Schineis (W, 3-1-0) came in relief of Taylor (2 saves) in the second half needing only to make one save in the win.
  • Fouls in the match were even (9-9) with Keene State having a slight edge (6-4) in corner kicks.

UP NEXT:

Both teams get back to conference play this weekend with Keene State hosting Rhode Island College Saturday at 2pm and MCLA taking on MASCAC rival Fitchburg State Friday at 6pm at Shewcraft field.