Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. –Emily Becher (Brooklyn) – the top freshman scorer in the Little East Conference – had two goals and an assist as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team clinched a conference playoff berth with a 5-1 victory over Rhode Island College Saturday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field.
A winner of four straight, Eastern (9-5-1, 3-2-0 LEC) entered action in a three-way tie for fourth place but moves into a tie for third place following UMass Boston's 3-2 victory over visiting Keene State College Saturday. UMass Boston and Keene shared second place prior to Saturday. The top six finishers in the conference advance to the LEC playoffs, which get underway with first-round matches Nov. 4.
The win is the 16th against four losses and a tie in this series with Rhode Island (2-12-0, 0-5-0 LEC), which had upset the Warriors, 1-0, a year ago at Providence to snap a five-year losing streak against Eastern.
Becher and freshman Nikki Basilicato (Guilford) gave Eastern a 2-0 halftime lead and the Warriors later scored twice in a span of less than three minutes to make it 5-0 with 15 minutes left. Becher contributed her team-leading ninth and tenth goals of the year in the match and also assisted on Basilicato's fourth of the year in the 24th minute.
Freshman McKenzie Reimondo (Portland) was credited with her first collegiate point when she assisted on Becher's second goal five minutes into the second half, and junior Maggie Sayers (Windsor Locks) came off the bench to post her first collegiate goal when she scored into an open net in the 76th minute.
Junior Rachel Skelton (East Lyme) and freshman Katie Dadio (Hamden) combined on the win in net. Senior Justina Thoma (Canterbury) replaced senior starter Audrey Maia (Norton, MA) 13 minutes into the match with their team trailing 1-0. Thoma made eight saves.
Eastern visits the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday at 7 p.m. in a Little East Conference match and closes out its LEC regular season Nov. 1 on the road against Plymouth State University at 1 p.m.
