Box Score PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team moved to within a point of first place in the Little East Conference by stretching its unbeaten streak to nine against Rhode Island College with a 2-0 victory Saturday afternoon.
Eastern's (9-3-2, 4-1-0 LEC) fourth straight victory (8-0-1 in its last nine), coupled with conference-leader Massachusetts Boston's tie at Keene State College, pulls the Warriors to within a point of the Beacons with two regular-season conference matches remaining (UMB holds the tie-breaker, having beaten Eastern, 1-0, Oct. 4 at Nevers Field). Rhode Island (8-5-1, 2-2-1 LEC) had entered play with a 6-1-1 record in its last eight matches and just two points behind the Warriors in the standings.
Playing their first road match in nearly three weeks, the Warriors remained undefeated (5-0-2) away from home, having outscored their opponents 13-2 in the process.
Senior forward Jon DeCasanova's (Glastonbury) penalty kick goal in the 17th minute put the Warriors in front for good, and freshman forward Sean Conway (Southington) came off the bench to make it 2-0 less than eight minutes later when he scored his second goal of the season on a pass from freshman midfielder Xavier Doran (Hebron), who recorded his team-leading sixth assist of the year.
While the Warriors were scoring twice, the Anchormen were the aggressors in the early going with senior defender Joseph Plude and freshman forward Komla Dogbey each testing sophomore goalie first-team all-conference goalie Greg Walton (Brunswick, ME) of Eastern in the first ten minutes. The teams battled for the next five minutes before a foul inside the box set up DeCasanova's (game-winning) penalty kick.
Having been issued 12 yellow cards through its first 13 matches, Rhode Island accumulated two more in a span of less than three minutes in the first half. One minute later, RIC head coach John Mello was given a red-card ejection. Eastern lost sophomore scoring leader Tyler Jones (Vernon) and starting sophomore midfielder Nicholas Warren (Southbury) – second on the team in assists – to injuries in the first half, neither of whom returned. Jones left the match in the 17th minute, and Warren followed five minutes later.
RIC opened the second half with early pressure, but couldn't find the net as several several shots went just wide. Junior forward Kevin Arboleda ripped a shot from 15 yards out, but Walton was up to the task, keeping the score 2-0. A break late in the second half saw Dogbey slip past a defender and send a low shot to the inside post but Walton made a spectacular save to maintain the shutout.
Walton, the LEC leader in save percentage (.889) and goals-against average (0.56), made seven saves to post his conference-leading sixth shutout in 14 starts.
Eastern visits the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Tuesday at 6 p.m. Ranked third in New England, the Bears (13-1-0) are 0-4-1 against Eastern in the last five meetings.
