Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn. – It didn't figure to be a high-scoring game when the Eastern Connecticut State University and U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's soccer teams met Tuesday night.
Featuring two of the top defensive teams in New England – backstopped by first-team all-conference keepers – it would come as little surprise if the game followed the pattern of the previous 28 in this series, when the winning team scored only one goal 12 times, or the teams played to a scoreless overtime tie (three times).
In the 29th meeting between the programs, Coast Guard outshot the Warriors 18-11, but Eastern sophomore keeper Greg Walton (Brunswick, ME) made seven saves for his seventh shutout in 15 starts, resulting in a scoreless overtime draw.
The outcome must be considered a moral victory for Eastern (9-2-5), which was able to stretch its unbeaten streak against Coast Guard (13-1-1) to six matches (4-0-2) while playing on the road without three injured starters against a team ranked second in New England and No. 9 nationally.
Off to its best start in program history, Coast Guard's defense stood stout again, posting its sixth straight shutout, tenth overall. It was matched by Eastern, which submitted its eighth shutout in 15 starts this year.
Coast Guard, which outshot Eastern 11-4 in the first half, had its best opportunity of the opening half when freshman Ryan Dandan played a through ball to senior Conor Regan, who managed to get in behind his defender. Regan was alone on goal, but Walton was fast off his line and made a sliding save, and the Eastern defense cleared it out of danger.
The second half was more defensive as the Bears only managed three shots, Walton stopping two of them. Their best opportunity came early in the period when sophomore Caelan Harshaw started a quick counter attack for Coast Guard. Harshaw played a pass to Dandan who turned and dribbled his way to the top of the penalty box. Dandan played a pass across the top of the eighteen to junior Lukas Benedetto,who fired a shot on goal. Walton, however, was up to the task once again making the save.
The Warriors attempted to steal the game late as sophomore forward Konnor Scarponi (Brunswick, ME) played a cross into the Bears penalty box. Senior keeper Richie Burns went up to pick off the cross, but it carried over his outstretched hands, leaving the goal wide open. Coast Guard's defense cleared the ball out of the box before any Eastern player could get to the ball.
The Bears nearly found a winner in the final minute of play when senior Trey Chamberlain found himself with space to shoot on the right side of the penalty box. Trey fired a shot on goal but Walton made his final save that preserved his 14th shutout in 35 career starts. Walton, ranked in a tie for 11th nationally in save percentage and 20th in goals-against average, lowered this year's GAA to 0.52 and raised his save percentage to .899.
Eastern hosts Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday at 1 p.m. The game is a re-match of the last two LEC championship games, both by Eastern both times by 3-1 scores.
