Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – Senior forward Daniela Marchitto (Orange) scored her 15th goal of the season in the 57th minute and junior Mackenzie MacLeod (Northfield) and senior Theresa Pagnozzi (Waterford) combined on the team's seventh shutout as No 2 seed Eastern Connecticut State University moved into the Little East Confereence women's soccer final with a 1-0 win over No. 3 seed Western Connecticut State University Friday night at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
A winner of a season-high four matches in a row, Eastern (11-8-0) visits top-seeded Keene State College (13-7-1) Sunday at 1p.m., with the winner being awarded an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Keene advanced to the final with a 3-1 penalty kick victory over No. 4 seed Massachusetts Boston Friday at Keene, NH after the teams had played to a 1-1 overtime draw. Keene converted three of its four penalty kicks and UMass missed three of its four.
Marchitto, who has a goal in five straight matches and a point in seven in a row, took a return pass from junior midfielder Kelly Wallace (South Windsor) and carried it full stride down the left side of the field before sending a left-footed shot from a difficult angle between Western (13-7-0) keeper Caitlin Avery and the left post for what proved to be her fourth game-winning goal of the season and 33rd career goal.
Making her third (straight) appearance of the season, Pagnozzi made three saves in the second half to gain her second win of the year and 16th of her career against a loss and four ties.
In a scoreless game nine minutes into the second half, Eastern unloaded three consecutive shots (among its four in the half) from in front of the goal but came away empty. Sophomore back Megan Godwin (Manchester) hit the right post with the first shot and two subsequent shots were knocked down by Avery.
Ten minutes into the second half with the game still scoreless, Pagnozzi timed her leap perfectly to haul in a free kick by Western's Erika Moran for the most difficult of the eight combined saves by the goalkeeping duo in the match.
Marchitto's attempt at an insurance goal on a one-timer with 14 minutes left off passes from senior back Amber Petrizzo (Plainville) and sophomore midfielder Nicole Leonard (Rutherford, NJ) was nullified due to an offside call.
Western, which leads all conference teams with seven titles, had won nine of 11 matches this year on its opponents' field entering the match, including five straight. The Colonials had edged sixth-seeded Plymouth State, 2-1, on the road Wednesday night in a first-round match. Despite being the higher seed, Western was forced to play away from home because its turf field was unplayable due to snow.
It marks the first time that Eastern has defeated Western in six LEC tournament games. Western has won three times and two ended it ties before penalty kicks determined which team would advance in the tournament or which team would be declared the tournament champion. In addition to Western's three wins, each team advanced on penalty kicks once following the two ties.
Eastern defeated 2010 LEC tournament champion Western, 2-0, in the regular season Oct. 1 at Danbury for its third straight win over the Colonials since losing to Western, 2-1, in the 2008 LEC final at Danbury.
Keene defeated Eastern, 2-0, Oct. 8 at Keene, NH. Eastern has won two LEC tournament titles, both times over Keene, most recently with a 1-0 victory at Keene, NH in 2009. Keene has won two titles as well, most recently in 2004 with a 3-0 victory over Eastern at Keene, NH. In LEC finals, Eastern is 2-1 against Keene and was also awarded the 2003 title over the Owls with a penalty-kick advantage.
