DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Freshman Samuel Watson (Trumbull) had two goals and two assists and senior Jesse Schulze (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) won 12 of 15 faceoffs as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team clinched a berth in the Little East Conference playoffs Tuesday night with a 9-4 win over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at Cressy Field.

Now 22-2 all-time against UMass (4-10, 1-5 LEC), Eastern (7-8, 4-2 LEC) spotted the Corsairs the first goal of the match but scored the final three goals of the quarter. The Warriors, who held a decisive 33-13 advantage in ground balls, allowed only two goals over the first 35 minutes and took a 6-2 lead into the final quarter.

Eastern junior goalie Chris Gorman (Shrewsbury, MA) made 11 saves and freshman Anthony Choronzy (Clinton) picked up a game-high six ground balls.

Eastern closes out the regular season Friday at Keene State College in a conference game at 7 p.m.