Box Score DANBURY, Conn. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University defense shut out Western Connecticut State University in the second half, and sophomore forward MaryKate Custer (South Windsor) broke a tie with her second goal of the match with 18 minutes left to lift the Warriors to a 2-1 Little East Conference victory Tuesday evening at the Westside Athletic Complex.
Bidding for its first LEC post-season tournament appearance in ten years, Eastern (7-8, 4-5 LEC) won its first road game in three weeks and snapped a five-game overall losing streak with its third win over Western (9-7, 6-3 LEC) in as many years.
With the victory, Eastern moves from a tie for eighth into a tie for seventh with the University of Southern Maine in the 12-team conference, where the top eight teams in the conference will receive a bid to the LEC tournament which gets underway in two weeks. Western, which had won three of its previous four, falls from third place into a tie for third. Two games remain in the regular season.
Custer's sixth goal of the season staked the Warriors to a quick lead in the fifth minute, and after the Colonials tied the match in the final minutes of the first half, Custer struck again off an assist from sophomore midfielder Paige Schneider (East Lyme) in the 52nd minute. It marked the first multi-goal match in Custer's career.
On Custer's first goal, Eastern was awarded a penalty corner that was taken by freshman forward Alex Kallgren (Dudley, MA). Kallgren's pass failed to clear the arc, but Eastern was able to recover and send the ball out to Custer, who avoided two Western defenders, bringing the ball inside the arc on the right side, and beat the Western keeper with a low shot.
With less than four minutes remaining until halftime, sophomore Tatum Seaver carried into the Eastern defense and riffled a shot that rebounded off the keeper. Seaver collected her own rebound and pushed a shot between the goalie's pads to even the score at 1-1.
Sophomore goalie Samantha Scavo (Redding) pushed aside six shots over the first 58 minutes for the win, with freshman Maddie LaRusso (Enfield) stopping one shot over the final 12 minutes.
Eastern regained the lead for good when Schneider attacked the left side of the Western defense and took a shot that rebounded solidly off the pads of the Western keeper. Custer pounced on the rebound and found the back of the net for her second goal of the game, the first game-winning one of her career.
Eastern equals its conference win total of a year ago, which is the third-most in a season for the Warriors in 17 seasons of conference play.
Eastern hosts Bridgewater State University in a conference match Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bears (7-8, 5-4 LEC) share fifth place in the LEC and have beaten Eastern the last six times the teams have met (five by shutout).
