DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by goals from seven different scorers, Eastern Connecticut State University posted victory over UMass Dartmouth in the Little East Conference opener for both teams on Cressy Field. With the 21-8 victory, the Warriors move to 4-4, while the Corsairs are now 5-3 on the season.
It was a back-and-forth opening to the first quarter as a pair of goals from Warriors' Abby Parisi gave the visitors a 2-0 advantage in the opening two minutes. The Corsairs battle back as consecutive man-up goals from rookie midfielder
Jennifer Lins and senior middie and captain
Widline Thomas tied things up at 9:54.
Eastern Connecticut fired in two more shots, this time from Chloe Miller and Sydney Goyette, but the home team once again rallied behind scores from rookie midfielders
Lily Nees and
Maddy Allen to make it 4-all with 1:25 to play. The Warriors added another tally with 48 seconds off the stick of Jessie Pyrek-Bennett, who went on to score the opening goal of the second quarter to make it a 6-4 game.
Senior midfielder and captain
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez fired home her first score of the contest at 13:20 to pull it to a 6-5 margin, but seven straight goals, including two from Goyette and a pair from Kaylee Drobish opened up a 13-5 advantage for the visitors. Thomas fired home another score for UMass Dartmouth, sending the teams into halftime with ECSU up 13-6.
Third quarter action saw Goyette bank another tally, but Sanchez Alvarez responded with her second of the game to make it 14-7. Despite that momentum, the Corsairs could not hold off the Warriors as Miller, Goyette and Pyrek-Bennett all scored to make it a 17-7 margin to end the third.
In the final frame, Thomas found the back of the net once more, but four straight goals from Eastern Connecticut saw the Warriors post the conference victory.
Goyette led the way for the Warriors, scoring six goals with two assists. Drobish added four goals with three helpers, to go along with three ground balls and a game-best eight draw controls, while Parisi posted three goals with two assists, adding three ground balls, three caused turnovers and two draws. Pyrek-Bennett posted four goals. In net, Mackenzie Brown posted the victory, recording six saves over 45 minutes of action. Savannah Goodness came on for the final 15 minutes of relief, recording one stop.
For the Corsairs, Thomas led the way with three goals and a helper, adding two ground balls and three draw controls. Allen had a goal with three assists, posting four ground balls with a caused turnover and a game-high eight draw controls, while Sanchez Alvarez posted two goals with five ground balls, seven draws and a game-high four caused turnovers. In goal, sophomore
Kelsie Couto shouldered the loss, posting nine saves on the night.
Overall as a team, the Warriors owned a 31-24 margin in shots, going a near-perfect 20-22 on the clear. The Corsairs owned a 19-13 advantage in draw controls for the contest.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Fitchburg State for a non-conference match against the Falcons. Game time is set for 6pm.
