NEW LONDON, Conn. – In its last warmup before a final four-game push to qualify for the Little East Conference playoffs, the Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team scored an early goal before Connecticut College answered with the final four in a 4-1 non-conference victory over the Warriors Wednesday afternoon at Conn's Turf Field.

But if Eastern (6-7)  manages to regain its stride -- the Warriors have lost four in a row -- and reach the Little East playoffs for the first time in ten years–– a three-goal loss in the final non-conference match of the season will serve as merely a footnote to a milestone season.

Riding the momentum of a first-ever win over Conn College a year ago at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex, Eastern struck first Wednesday – scoring consecutive goals for the first time in this eight-game series – but Conn (5-7) needed only five minutes to gain the equalizer, took the lead in the final minutes of the first half and added two pad goals in the second half to capture only its second home victory this year against five losses.

Despite a losing record, the battle-tested Camels had played four of their previous 11 matches this year against teams ranked in the national Top 10. Although they were outscored 19-2 in those matches, they didn't deflate when spotting the Warriors an early goal Wednesday.

Junior Hannah Keiser (Danbury) – who set a season record with 13 goals a year ago – found the back of the net for the first time since Sept. 17 by scoring an unassisted goal with a hard blast just 14 minutes into action.

Like Eastern, Conn features 13 freshmen and sophomores on its roster, and the hosts got both the go-ahead goal and final goal from freshman Katlyn Paiva. Junior Jillian Dahrooge pulled Conn even in the 20^th minute, and Paiva gave her team a 2-1 advantage at halftime when she finished off a cross from sophomore Bryn MacGillivray 2:23 before the break.

Keiser's goal came on the first of only two Eastern shots in the match. Conn had a 16-2 advantage in shots and amassed an 11-1 margin in penalty corners.

NOTES:

Second-year senior defender Heather Demers (Oxford, MA) made her first career start in place of sophomore sweeper Alexandra Steward (Old Saybrook), who sat out the first match of her career… making her second career appearance, freshman goalie Maddie LaRusso (Enfield) shone in net for the Warriors, kicking out nine shots in the second half in place of sophomore starter Samantha Scavo (Redding), who got the second half off in anticipation of Saturday's Little East Conference home match against undefeated LEC leader Keene State College… junior Mackenize Brower (Granby) returned to the starting lineup after missing two matches with a concussion… Eastern enters play Saturday locked in a five-way tie for fifth place in the conference (eight of 12 teams qualify for the playoffs, which get underway with first-round games Nov. 4), with games remaining against two of the teams in that tie (Worcester State and Bridgewater State)… earlier this year, Eastern beat Westfield State (6-1), which is among the tied teams… the Warriors are 1-15 all-time against Keene State, the victory a 4-0 conquest at home in 2001… the Owls managed a 2-0 win over the Warriors a year ago at Keene, NH…