Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior midfielder Paige Schneider (East Lyme) and senior forward Laura Chicorka (Enfield) scored first-half goals as the Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team remained a game out of first place in the Little East Conference with a 2-0 victory over Western Connecticut State University Wednesday night at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
Schneider scored her third goal of the year with just over four minutes gone on a rebound when Western (3-6, 1-3 LEC) junior goalie Kristy Trotta knocked down sophomore back
Katy Jankura's (Guilford) shot from the middle of the circle following a penalty corner.
Eastern (5-3, 3-1 LEC) controlled play but could not add an insurance goal until Chicorka made it 2-0 with 2:44 left in the half with an unassisted goal – her third of the season. Chicorka won the ball just inside Eastern's half of the field and carried all the way into the circle -- splitting two defenders and outrunning a third -- where her low shot from three steps inside the circle in a 1v1 duel with Trotta carried inside the left post.
The Warriors remain a game off the pace in the LEC race behind unbeaten UMass Dartmouth (a 3-2 winner over Eastern Sept. 12) and Keene State College.
Western's best chance to spoil Eastern goalie
Samantha Scavo's
(Redding) third shutout of the year (second straight) came with nine minutes left on a wrister from junior forward Tatum Seaver which Scavo kicked away.
Eight minutes after Schneider gave Eastern its 1-0 lead, scoring leader
Alex Kallgren (Dudley, MA) swept a long crossing ball from the corner across the goal mouth, but no Eastern player was there to convert it into a goal.
As it has done all year, Eastern's starting back line of seniors
Jessica Oliveira (Danbury) and
Mackenzie Brower (Granby), junior
Alexandra Steward (Old Saybrook) and sophomore
Katy Jankura (Guilford) spent the evening chasing down and clearing loose balls in its defensive third to diffuse potential scoring threats before they could materialize.
In handing Western its fifth straight loss and downing the Colonials for the fourth straight year, Eastern held a 14-8 advantage in shots and a slim 7-6 edge in penalty corners. Scavo made four saves to lower her LEC-leading goals-against average to 0.77 and raise her save percentage to .765. Trotta, this past weeks conference Goalie-of-the-Week selection, stopped three shots.
Eastern visits Worcester State University Saturday at 11 a.m. in a conference match.
