Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. -- Sophomore forward Hannah Keiser (Danbury) contributed her second two-goal game of the season and junior goalie Olivia Mullen (Bethel) turned back seven shots for her first win of the season as the Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team downed the University of Southern Maine, 3-1, Saturday afternoon in a Little East Conference match at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
At right: Hannah Keiser
The victory is the first for Eastern (4-3, 1-1 LEC) over Southern Maine (3-5, 0-2 LEC) since a 2-1 home triumph in 2006 – a span of six straight losses. Prior to losing to Southern Maine in last year's conference opener, 1-0, the Warriors had been outscored 17-3 in the three previous losses against the Huskies. The victory is the third for Eastern over the Huskies in this 17-game LEC series.
Both teams entered play with two-game losing streaks. After the visitors got on the board in the 15th minute on freshman forward Leanne Reichert's second goal of the year, the Warriors evened the score when Keiser connected on the team's first shot 6:30 later. With time running out in the half, senior midfielder Morgan Osiecki (Bethel) gave the Warriors the lead for good and a one-goal halftime advantage when she registered her first goal of the season on her only shot of the match. Keiser's team-leading sixth goal of the season soon after an Eastern penalty corner 14 minutes into the second half provided the Warriors with a two-goal advantage.
Freshman forward Elly Walker (Scarborough, ME) collected her team-leading third assist of the season when she fed Keiser on a two-on-one break that tied the match in the 22nd minute, and first-year sophomore forward Taylor Hawkins (Trumbull) recorded her second assist of the season when she found Osiecki at the far post on a crossing pass from the right in the 34th minute which proved to be the game-winner.
Making her third start of the season, Mullen made seven saves, none bigger on All-LEC junior Peyton Dostie's penalty stroke with 6:33 left which preserved Eastern's two-goal lead.
Dostie, last spring's LEC Track Athlete-of-the-Year, was her team's most dangerous player. She unloaded six of her team's 14 shots, forcing Mullen to come up with saves on four of them. Minutes before the stroke, Dostie had carried the ball through the Eastern defense and sent a shot from close range at Mullen, who came out to turn it aside.
Freshman goalie Amanda Kasbohm of Southern Maine made six saves and surrendered just one goal over the final 35 minutes after taking over for senior Kayla Kennedy to start the second half.
Eastern hosts Babson College Thursday at 6 p.m.
