MANSFIELD, Conn. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's soccer team came up short against Eastern Connecticut State University, 2-1, on Saturday during a Little East Conference road game. The Corsairs are now 2-2-1 in conference action and 6-6-1 overall while the Warriors moved to a perfect 4-0 LEC mark and 8-4 overall record.
UMass Dartmouth got on the scoreboard early after senior
Nick Mahjoory found the back of the net in the opening four minutes of action, respectively, to put the Corsairs up 1-0. Shortly after, the Warriors answered at the 11:21 mark thanks to a goal by Sebastian Kadlof to even the score at 1-1. Corsairs goalkeeper
Ethan Donahue, earning his 11
th start in net, posted his first save of the contest to deny a strike by Eliot Melgar. Midway through the opening half, junior captain
Mario Rodriguez and first year
Lennon Rodrigues each fired a shot on frame to force saves from Warriors goalkeeper Jack Harmon.
It was a quiet start to the second half as sophomore
Brennan Hill and Rodrigues each produced a shot apiece for the Corsairs in the first ten minutes of play. At the 67:53 mark, sophomore
Delano Costa ripped a strike on target, but Harmon was able to make the stop for Eastern Connecticut. A few minutes later, Caiden Hettrick-Rivera notched scored to give the Warriors a 2-1 edge approaching the final 15 minutes of the game. UMass Dartmouth continued to battle, registering four late shots in the closing minutes of action, but Eastern Connecticut held on to seal their fourth conference win of the season by a final score of 2-1.
Despite the score, UMass Dartmouth outshot Eastern Connecticut 11-8 while both teams recorded five shots on-goal in the contest. The Warriors earned three corner kicks in the game compared to the Corsairs with just one corner in the afternoon.
Mahjoory scored the lone goal of the game for the Corsairs marking his second of the season. Rodriguez, Rodrigues, and senior
Andrew Pacheco each finished the game with two strikes apiece while Costa and Martin each posted one shot on-goal for UMass Dartmouth.
Donahue picked up the loss after recording three saves and allowing two goals in net for the Corsairs. Harmon produced four stops and allowed one goal in net for Eastern Connecticut.
UMass Dartmouth is on the road for their next non-conference game at Bridgewater State University on Tuesday, October 14
th scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time.
