Box Score NEW HAMPTON, N.H. – Freshman forward Emily Becher (Brooklyn) scored her 14th and 15th goals of the season and junior Rachel Skelton (East Lyme) posted her third straight shutout as the Warriors concluded the regular season with their seventh straight win – a 2-0 Little East Conference decision over Plymouth State University Saturday afternoon at the New Hampton School.
Becher scored both Eastern (12-5-1, 5-2-0 LEC) goals – her third game of two goals in the last four and fifth overall – and Skelton made three saves to extend her streak of scoreless minutes to 338 minutes, 46 seconds.
Third-seeded Eastern and sixth-seeded Plymouth (5-12-0, 2-5-0 LEC) square off again Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the LEC playoffs at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex. A four-time Little East playoff champion, Eastern faces Plymouth for the first time in the 16-year history of the conference playoffs. Eastern holds a 16-12 series lead over Plymouth. The Warriors had a 14-game winning streak against Plymouth snapped last year, 1-0, by the visiting Panthers.
Becher, who has scored five of the team's six goals in its recent streak of three straight 2-0 triumphs, moved ahead of Jen Ferrari into second place all-time for goals by a rookie in a season six minutes before the half, then added her 15th of the season (eighth in the last five matches) two minutes into the second half on an assist from senior midfielder Taylor Shannon (Waterford). Only Lisa Matukaitis has scored more than Becher's 15 goals in one season. Matukaitis scored a program record 23 goals in her All-America season of 1992 after collecting a rookie mark of 22 in 1988 and 16 in 1989.
The shutout was the seventh of the season for the Eastern defense.
The Warriors outshot the Panthers, 19-5, forcing sophomore keeper Annaliese Scmidt to make ten saves. Playing its first home game since Oct. 11, Plymouth ends its regular season on a six-match losing streak, managing only two goals in the process.
Since losing at 2013 LEC regular-season champion UMass Boston, Eastern has outscored its opponent 19-4 in winning its last seven.
