Box Score LEC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- It was Seniors' Day Saturday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field, but four sophomores managed to steal some of the spotlight.
Sophomores Anna Manser (Manchester) and Krista Petersen (Wallingford) scored on consecutive corner kicks by sophomore Maggie Bodington (Stratford) five minutes apart to break a tie midway through the second half as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team completed its first perfect Little East Conference regular season with a 3-1 victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
After going unbeaten (6-0-1) three times previously in the last ten seasons, Eastern (13-3-1/7-0-0 LEC) became the sixth conference team to win all seven LEC regular-season matches in 26 seasons of LEC competition. Having earlier clinched its sixth LEC regular-season title and No. 1 playoff seed, the Warriors gain a first-round playoff bye and will host the winner of a Tuesday first-round match between No. 4 UMass Dartmouth and No. 5 seed Keene State College Thursday at 2 p.m. at Nevers Field.
Eastern has won six straight this year and improved to 7-2-1 at home in running its unbeaten streak against UMass Dartmouth(7-6-2 / 3-2-2 LEC) to 20 (19-0-1) since 1996. The Corsairs entered play having already clinched one of the six LEC playoff spots and will need either a No. 3 or No. 4 seed to host a first-round playoff match Tuesday.
With the score tied at 1-all, Bodington sent Eastern's first corner kick of the half to the far post in the 65th minute, where an unmarked Manser -- who had come off the bench only six minutes earlier -- leaped in and knocked it past UMass sophomore keeper Madison Boucher to give the Warriors the lead for good. Taking the second corner kick of the half less than five minutes later, Bodington sent a drive to the near post, where Petersen headed it in to give Eastern a two-goal cushion.
After celebrating Seniors' Day before the match, the Warriors celebrated their first perfect LEC regular season afterward. (Photo by Heather Avery).
After the teams played without scoring for nearly 44 minutes, they traded goals 43 seconds apart in the final stage of the first half. Eastern sophomore midfielder Nikki Basilicato (Guilford) gave the Warriors the lead after the Corsairs were unable to clear the zone. Basilicato won the ball in the offensive third, cut to the top of the box and left-footed a shot which sailed under the crossbar for her fifth goal of the year with 1:11 left in the half.
UMass, which was 4-1-1 in its previous six matches, tied things 41 seconds later when junior midfielder Talia D'Ambruoso slammed a free kick from the right of the box off an Eastern defender and past Eastern senior Rachel Skelton (East Lyme) with 30 seconds left before the half.
Eastern outshot UMass, 20-4 and held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks. Boucher made nine saves, Skelton one.
Seniors Skelton, Maggie Sayers (Windsor Locks) and Kaitlin Thibodeau (Tolland) -- all four-year members of the program -- and their families were honored prior to the start of the match in their final regular-season home appearance.
Eastern has won four LEC playoff championships in the previous 15 years under head coach Chris D'Ambrosio, most recently as the No. 2 tournament seed in 2011.
