Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Freshman keeper Ryan Murphy (Cromwell) needed only two saves to record his fifth full shutout of the season and the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team remained unbeaten at home this year with a 2-0 Little East Conference victory over Keene State College Sunday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field.
Ranked fifth in New England, Eastern (9-1-1, 2-0-1) moved back into a tie for second place in the conference with Plymouth State University, which defeated homestanding University of Southern Maine, 3-1, Saturday. Keene (3-6-0, 1-2-0) lost its second straight since a three-game winning streak.
In six home wins this year, the Warriors have outscored their opponents by a 17-2 margin.
Eastern could not convert three prime opportunities in the first half, but finally broke through in the second when sophomore midfielder JD Stearns (Bolton) and sophomore forward Xavier Doran (Hebron) each beat Keene freshman keeper Justin Carnevale, who lost his first career decision in his third career start.
Sophomore forward Adam Traxler (Newburyport, MA) – who entered the match just seven minutes earlier -- set up Stearns' second goal of the year with his first point of the season, carrying down the right wing before sending a crossing pass into the box to a charging Stearns. The cross bounced off the face of a Keene defender to the foot of Stearns, who sidestepped his opponent, touched it twice, and beat Carnevale from ten yards inside the left post. Doran initiated that scoring drive in the 61st minute when he collected Murphy's goal kick at midfield and found Traxler streaking down the right wing.
Doran moved into a tie for the team lead with his fifth goal in the 78th minute when he leaped to drive a header above the reach of Carnavale and under the crossbar from 12 yards on junior midfielder Danny Manfredi's (Unionville) perfectly-placed corner kick from the right side.
Eastern, which was eliminated by Keene, 1-0, in the LEC semifinals at Nevers Field a year ago after winning titles each of the previous three seasons, threatened several times in the first half. Junior forward Tyler Jones (Vernon) hit the right post on a 20-yard blast off a feed from junior back Gavin Neuendorf (Norwich) 20 minutes into action, and Neuendorf forced Carnevale to make a diving save with a one-timer following a collison which involved the keeper in the six-yard box with 11 minutes left.
Keene freshman back Jacob Papanicolaou had two opportunities in the first half but neither of them required a save by Murphy. With 17 minutes left, Papanicolaou fired a one-timer off a corner kick but the ball sailed high over the crossbar; seven minutes later, senior back Dylan Bisceglia put the ball on the foot of a streaking and unmarked Papanicolaou on the right wing, but his bid on a difficult angle sailed wide of the left post.
Both teams had a pair of opportunities in the second half before Stearns cashed in for the Warriors. Carnevale preserved the shutout when he came off his line to punch out Doran's 16-yard drive over the crossbar seven minutes into the period.
Soon after, Keene answered with two chances a minute apart. Eleven minutes into the half, Murphy dove to his left to deny junior midfielder Conor Leahy's header off a free kick, and a minute later freshman midfielder Jacob Chiza's found room on the right wing, outrunning an Eastern defender and unloading a drive on a bad angle that carried just to the left of the far left post.
Eastern outshot Keene, 14-8 and had twice as many corner kicks (8-4). Carnevale made five saves.
Eastern visits Connecticut College in a non-conference match Wednesday at 4 p.m.
