Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team did not allow a goal for the fourth straight game Saturday afternoon in a 3-0 victory over the University of Southern Maine at Thomas Nevers Field, and because of that, moved into first place in the conference.
Eastern's (14-0-1, 5-0-1 LEC) victory over Southern Maine (4-12-0, 1-5-0 LEC), coupled with Massachusetts Dartmouth's overtime loss at Keene State College, vaults the Warriors into the top spot in the conference, with 16 points. UMass Dartmouth (5-1-0 LEC) follows with 15 points.
Saturday's results set up next Saturday's home contest against UMass Dartmouth. A win or tie gives Eastern its fourth regular-season conference championship (third outright) in six years under head coach Greg DeVito, and the top spot in the LEC playoffs. Eastern won both the LEC regular-season and playoff titles last year.
Against Southern Maine, Eastern controlled the ball for most of the game allowing only four shots in stretching its unbeaten streak to 15 matches with two remaining in the regular season and downing the Huskies for the ninth time in the last ten meetings. The Warriors visit No. 8 regionally-ranked Babson College Sunday at 2 p.m.
Senior keeper Jordan Munsell (Waterford) needed only two saves to post his eighth shutout in 14 starts this year and tenth in 19 career starts and extend his scoreless streak this season to 432 minutes and 44 seconds. He has not allowed a goal since giving up an early one in a 1-1 overtime LEC tie at Keene State College two weeks ago.
Eastern scored the first goal just 73 seconds into the game on Tom Vear's (Monson, MA) first goal of the season, on assists from Matt Furman (Montville) and Cory Tobler (Portland). Furman started with the ball and passed it to Tobler who gave a great lead pass to Vear, who was able to beat the keeper in the box.
One of the limited opportunities Southern Maine had came in the 37th minute when Mazen Aljari had a shot on Munsell which would have tied the match. Alijari had an open look from the left corner of the box and attempted to beat Munsell on the near post but the shot was caught.
This missed chance to tie the game proved costly for Southern Maine when just three minutes later Eastern added its second goal. Carl Stensland (Storrs) scored from an assist by Zach Kice (Denver, CO) off a ball that had been batted out of the box by the keeper moments earlier.
In the second half, Eastern dominated possession to protect its two-goal lead. However in the 60th minute Conal Koppisch (Willimantic) and Stensland did not allow Southern Maine to send in two crosses from the corner of the field. The two separate plays protected the box and Eastern was eventually able to regain the possession to avoid giving up a goal. In the 84th minute, freshman Timothy Jennison (Coventry) scored the final dagger to extend the lead to three. Jennison scored unassisted as he put the ball off the mitt of the keeper before having it find the back of the net.
