Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Xavier Doran (Hebron) had scored two goals in the first 27 matches of his college career. Saturday at Thomas Nevers Field in Eastern Connecticut State University's 4-1 Little Conference victory over Western Connecticut State University, the sophomore forward struck three times in a stretch of 23 first-half minutes.
Ranked 24th nationally and fourth in New England, Eastern (7-1-1, 1-0-1 LEC), Eastern extended its unbeaten streak against Western (3-3-1, 0-1-1 LEC) to ten (8-0-2), remaining perfect in four home matches this year and outscoring those four opponents by a 13-1 margin.
Western freshman forward Chauncey Allers ruined freshman keeper Ryan Murphy's (Cromwell) bid for a fourth shutout in nine starts when he scored his team-leading third goal of the season that cut a goal off the Warriors' 3-0 lead with 23 minutes left. The play originated with junior back Zachary Slomski's throw-in at midfield to sophomore back Lucas Saunders. Saunders split two Eastern defenders and sent a pass to the left wing to sophomore forward Shane Pugliese, who centered the ball to a sliding Allers at the far post.
With the Colonials anxious to cut the Eastern lead to one, junior forward Tyler Jones (Vernon) put the match in the Eastern win column when he picked the pocket of Western sophomore keeper Austin Tierney and sent a grass-cutter into a vacated net from 22 yards to restore Eastern's three-goal lead with nine minutes left. Tierney had come 35 yards off his line to play Eastern's long ball, and as he attempted to advance the ball, Jones swooped in and took it off the keeper's foot.
Doran gave Eastern a 1-0 lead five minutes entering the contest, knocking in freshman Derek Parker's (Cromwell) corner kick with a header from the back post in the 21st minute. Just over five minutes later, Western was whistled for a hand ball in the box, and Doran deposited it into the back of the net to make it 2-0. Doran made it 3-0 at halftime by scoring his fourth goal of the year inside the final three minutes of the half, ripping a 30-yard bomb under the crossbar. Junior back Gavin Neuendorf (Norwich) and sophomore midfielder JD Stearns (Bolton) played give-and-go near midfield to set up Doran's third goal. Neuendorf kept the ball inbounds along the left touch line and sent it ahead to Doran, who received the ball in space, took two touches, and launched a long drive which settled into the upper left hand corner of the net, beyond the desperate leap of Tierney.
Doran was active throughout the match in the offensive third, taking five of Eastern's 11 shots, putting four of them on net in 62 minutes off the bench.
Soon after Doran's third goal of the half, the Colonials mounted pressure to break through before halftime, but Murphy stopped freshman midfielder Robert Della Penna's try with his second save of the contest, and Allers sent a header over the crossbar 33 seconds later.
Murphy stopped three shots for his seventh win and Tierney made four saves in his third loss in five decisions.
Eastern hosts Salem State University Tuesday at 4 p.m.
