By Brendan Driscoll/Sports Information Staff

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -  Having lost only one of its previous five home-opening matches under head coach Greg DeVito, anything but a win in its first home match of 2012 against a game but overmatched Mitchell College  team would have been a major disappointment for the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team.

But despite holding a sizeable advantage in shots, it looked like the Warriors might have to settle for a tie Wednesday afternoon against first-time opponent Mitchell  at Thomas Nevers Field.

After 99 minutes of a scoreless game, however, junior forward Mitchell Power (Douglas, MA) finally drove one past Mitchell (1-2-0) standout sophomore keeper Ramazan Sinani sin the final minute of the first overtime period as the Warriors breathed a deep sigh of relief with the 1-0 non-conference victory  -- their fourth without a loss this season.

Ranked fifth in New England, Eastern was unable to score until overtime when Power scored on a wonderful strike from outside of the penalty box. Powers' second goal of the season (third game-winning onein the last two years) was the only shot that beat Sinani, who made a handful of beautiful saves among the 14 that he collected on the afternoon.

In the first half, Eastern had numerous opportunities to score including one chance in the 18th minute when senior forward Cory Tobler (Portland) crossed the ball into the box to find junior midfielder Tom Vear (Monson, MA) for a shot that was stopped and eventually recovered by Sinani. Another chance in the first half that didn't amount to a goal was in the 12th minute when Power had his shot go off the right goalpost but the ball found Tobler's foot but his shot went over the bar on the rebound attempt.

Power and Tobler combined for 13 of Eastern's shots, with Sinani coming up with five saves. Following a scoreless first half, Tobler sent a shot from close range over the top in the opening two minutes of the second half, and Power's line drive struck the left post  with 13 minutes left.

Senior keeper Jordan Munsell (Waterford) made three saves to record his fifth career shutout - third in four starts this fall -- in nine career starts. His toughest save came  12 minutes into the second half when he perfectly timed a leap to haul in a free kick by senior back Howie Johnson at the cross bar. With nine minutes left, Munsell nearly figured in a go-ahead goal. On the play, Munsell punted to senior forward Matt Furman (Montville), who sent a perfect pass ahead to Power, who volleyed a shot from in close over the cross bar while trying to beat one defender.

Munsell has not allowed a goal in the past two games in amassing a 0.24 goals-against average in  370+ minutes.

Mitchell College was not able to create much offense in the match, managing only nine total shots and attempting only one corner kick. Eastern, which recorded 32 shots and 11 corner kicks, would likely have enjoyed a lopsided win if not for the active play of the 5-foot-11 inch, 165 pound Sinani.

Eastern opens Little East Conference play  Saturday at Rhode Island College at 1 p.m.