Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – Sophomore Hannah Keiser (Danbury) set a season record with her 13th goal 22:33 into a maximum 30-minute sudden-death overtime session and freshman goalie Samantha Scavo (Redding) broke the season record for shutouts in lifting the Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team to a crucial 1-0 Little East Conference victory over Western Connecticut State University Tuesday night in its final regular-season home match at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
At right: Hannah Keiser
Keiser scored an unassisted goal midway through the second 15-minute overtime session – outplaying Western freshman keeper Kristy Trotta for possession – and hitting the back of the open cage as Eastern (8-8, 4-5 LEC) posted to its second 1-0 win over Western (4-11, 1-8 LEC) in as many years. The Warriors and Colonials have played five overtime matches in this eight-game series, Eastern moving ahead, 3-2, in those contests.
By halting a four-game conference losing streak, Eastern took a giant step toward qualifying for the Little East Conference playoffs for the first time in nine years. The Warriors entered the day in sixth place in the 12-team conference and moved into a tie for fifth with Salem State University, which surrendered the only goal of the match in the final four minutes of a home loss to Bridgewater State University Tuesday.
The top eight teams in the final standings qualify for the playoffs, which get underway Nov. 5. Eastern closes out the season at Bridgewater State (8-1 in the LEC) Saturday and Worcester State University (2-7) Saturday, Nov. 2. Unofficially, Eastern will clinch a berth with one victory in its final two matches.
The team's eight wins represent its second-most in a season in the program's 16-year history, behind only the 2001 team which won 11 of 20 matches and qualified for the program's only post-season tournament (ECAC).
Keiser took six of Eastern's eight shots, finally connecting for her team-leading 13th goal to break Sharon Kilpatrick's 2001 record which she had equaled in scoring the game's only goal in last Wedneday's non-conference victory here over Connecticut College. The game-winning marker was the fourth this year for Keiser, who has recorded over 40 percent of the team's season total of 32 goals.
Western outshot Eastern, 7-1 in overtime, but Keiser made Eastern's only one count.
Scavo made seven saves to record her fifth shutout in 12 starts, while Trotta made three saves. The program's previous record for full shutouts in a season was four, set by Jennifer Makwana in 2001.
The Colonials held a slim 10-8 advantage in penalty corners.
