DANBURY, Conn. --  Junior attack Tim Reilly (Hanover, MA) scored six goals in the taem's second straight Little East Conference victory and junior goalie Blake Smaldone (Hamilton, MA) made 14 saves as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team defeated Western Connecticut State University in a key match, 15-10, Tuesday night at the Westside Athletic Complex.

By winning, Eastern (6-6, 4-2 Little East) moves to within a Friday victory against Plymouth State University of gaining the second seed and a first-round bye in the LEC playoffs, which begin Tuesday with first-round games. Plymouth lost a battle of LEC unbeatens in a 21-9 loss at defending champion Keene State College Tuesday night.

The loss drops Western (4-11, 2-4 Little East) into a two-way tie for fifth place and keeps the Colonials winless in this 16-game series with Eastern.

Eastern won on the road for the first time in five weeks by scoring the first three goals of the match and never relinquishing the lead. Leading by a goal with nine minutes left in the first half, Easternn outscored Western 7-2 over the next 29 minutes to build a six-goal, 12-6 lead five minutes into the fourth quarter.

Reilly scored four of his game-high goal total in the second half. His third goal of the match five minutes into the second half allowed the Warriors to go ahead by two and his fourth goal at the horn ending the third quarter made it 10-6.

In his first starter, first-year junior Eddie Dorr (Winchester, MA) won 14 of 26 faceoffs and scooped up five ground balls.

Eastern closes out the regular season against Plymouth State Friday at 6:30 p.m. at New Hampton, NH.