MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The No. 2 seeded Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team scored the final four goals of the match after being shut out in the third quarter and went on to a 9-7 Little East Conference semifinal victory over No. 3 Massachusetts Dartmouth Friday night at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.

Two-time defending playoff chamption Eastern (11-5) advances to the final Sunday against top-seeded and host Keene State College, which eliminated No. 5 Plymouth State University, 20-6,  in Friday's other semifinal.

 Shut out until the final minutes, senior All-America Tyler Fresen (Newington) scored twice after the teams were knotted at 7-7 with just over five minutes left.  Sophomore Cody Carbone (North Reading, MA) assisted on sophomore Tim Reilly's (Hanover, MA) goal with 10:20 left that pulled Eastern to within one, and Carbone tied the game at 7-7 on an assist from freshman Nick Carisio (Cheshire) with 7:33 left.

 Fresen had two goals and two assists and senior Mike Jordan (Cheshire) two goals for Eastern and freshman Quincy Pecora (North Haven) won 12 of 15 faceoffs. Sophomore Blake Smaldone (Hamilton, MA) made 13 saves for the Warriors.

Senior Jordan MacPherson led UMass Dartmouth (13-5) with three goals and an assist and Adam Niden had three goals for UMass, which scored two of its four goals in the second quarter on man-up opportunities as the team's were tied, 4-4, at halftime. Nick Thayer stopped nine Eastern shots.