WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Sophomore forward Xavier Doran (Hebron) scored his tenth goal of the season with 1:43 left in sudden death overtime to lift the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Rhode Island College Saturday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field.

A winner of all seven home matches this year, Eastern (13-2-1, 5-0-1 LEC) can clinch its fourth LEC regular-season title in five years with a victory at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth this coming Saturday. Regardless of next Saturday's outcome, the Warriors can also clinch if defending champion University of Massachusetts Boston ties or loses against visiting Plymouth State University next Saturday. Rhode Island (9-5-0, 4-2-0 LEC) entered play sharing second place with UMass Boston. The Anchormen had a seven-game winning streak snapped in losing for only the second time on the road in six matches this year.

The game-ending goal began with a throw-in in Eastern's end. A Rhode Island defender got his head on the long throw but Doran knocked it down and carried it toward the top of the box, where a Rhode Island defender dislodged it with a sliding tackle. The ball went to the foot of freshman forward Justin Jensen (Wethersfield), stationed to the left of the top of the box. Jensen sent it to the top of the circle to sophomore forward Adam Traxler (Newburyport, MA). Traxler quickly swung it to junior forward Tyler Jones (Vernon). In space, Jones teed it up and served it into the box to Doran, who knocked it toward the left post from 12 yards. RIC junior keeper Chris Moura dove to his right and tried to smother it, but it rolled off his fingers and trickled inside the left post.

Eastern freshman Ryan Murphy (Cromwell) made five saves – including a game-saver off the foot of RIC freshman midfielder Dennis Vazquez (Providence, RI) with six minutes left in overtime – to record his sixth shutout in 16 starts. Moura stopped three shots.

Rhode Island outshot Eastern, 15-5, including 13-4  in regulation. Eastern scored on its only shot of overtime to defeat the Anchormen for the  for the fifth straight time and extend its unbeaten streak against RIC to ten (8-0-2) since losing in the LEC tournament on the road in 2008.

At left: After giving the Warriors all they could handle for 108 minutes, the overtime loss felt like sudden death to the Anchormen.

Eastern has won four straight (the last three by shutout) and seven of eight. The Warriorrs close out the LEC regular season Saturday at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The top four teams qualify for the LEC playoffs, which get underway Nov. 4.