Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University defense limited the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to one goal through the first 35 minutes and the Warriors were never threatened after surging to a six-goal first-quarter lead on the way to a 13-9 Little East Conference victory Saturday afternoon at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
A winner of six straight, Eastern (7-4, 3-0 LEC) keeps pace atop the conference standings with Keene State College, which routed the University of Southern Maine, 25-5, Saturday. The Warriors are unbeaten against UMass Dartmouth (4-8, 1-2 LEC) at home in 13 all-time matchups.
The Warriors scored on their first two shots and three of their first four, eventually moving out to a 6-0 lead before the Corsairs broke through with a man-up goal three minutes into the second quarter.
UMass was limited to that one lone goal through the first 35 minutes of play before LEC goal leader Bo Prozinski (Ashland, MA) managed his first of three goals with ten minutes left in the third period and Eastern leading 8-2.
Eastern got ten goals from seniors on Seniors' Day, with Liam Murphy (Dover, NH) leading all players with four – his third coming on a length-of-the-field run after picking up a ground ball with two minutes left in the first half. Seniors Tim Reilly (Hanover, MA) and Michael Dellanno (Wakefield, MA) each contributed two goals, Reilly moving to within two of his 100th career goal. Senior Dan Vasquez (Newington) also got on the board early in the fourth quarter and senior defenseman Giuseppe Parisi (Danbury) netted his first of the year with six minutes left.
Down 8-1 at halftime, UMass scored the first three goals of the second half and trailed by only four, 9-5, after sophomore DJ Miller (Ashland, MA) converted his second goal of the match in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. The teams traded goals the rest of the way, however. The Warriors put the game away when Dellano and Parisi ripped unassisted goals 1:17 apart later in the fourth quarter to make it 12-6 with six minutes left. Both goals were the result of UMD turnovers.
Senior goalie Blake Smaldone (Hamilton, MA) – the LEC leader in save percentage -- stopped 14 shots and allowed eight goals to record the 30th win of his career. Freshman Dan Brewer (West Hartford) saw his first collegiate action, closing out the win in goal. Junior Matt Lafond (Bridgewater, MA) made eight saves in the loss, allowing all 13 goals before sophomore Kyle Taylor (Raynham, MA) saw time in his third game during an uneventful final two minutes.
Parisi spent most of the afternoon shadowing Prozinski, who connected on only three of 11 shots.
Eastern junior Jesse Schulze (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) won half of his 22 faceoff attempts and senior midfielder Eddie Dorr (Winchester, MA) matched his teammate with four ground balls.
Eastern visits Western Connecticut Wednesday in a conference match at 7 p.m.
