The Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team kept two streaks intact Sunday, but it wasn't easy.

Eastern (4-6, 1-0 LEC) built a six-goal lead with eight minutes left, then withstood pressure from University of Massachusetts Boston  (4-6, 1-1 LEC) that cut the lead to two twice in the final three minutes to post a 13-11 victory at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.

By winning, Eastern remained perfect in 24 meetings all-time with UMB dating back to 1997, and ran its record in Little East openers to 17-0.

The Warriors never trailed and broke from the second and last tie midway through the first quarter, converting three straight goals. Eastern never allowed the Beacons to score more than one goal in a row until seven minutes remained, when Kroy Arnold (Syracuse, NY), Calvin Lee (Hopkinton, MA) and Jack Dillon (Barrington, RI) connected on unassisted goals 1:28 apart to allow the Beacons to slice a six-goal deficit to three, 11-8, with 5:29 left.

After Dillon's goal, UMB won the ensuing faceoff with a chance to cut further into Eastern's lead, but turned the ball over, and after a timeout, Eastern appeared to halt the Beacons' momentum when Matthew Rougeot (Cheshire) potted his fifth and final goal with 4:33 left. The Beacons continued to press, however, making it a two-goal game for the first time since the opening quarter, when transfers Clay and Kroy Arnold (Syracuse, NY) hooked up with 4:05 left off an Eastern turnover, and Lee found the back of the net with 2:43 left after faceoff specialist Matt Murphy (Watertown, MA) won his eighth and final faceoff to make it 12-10.

The Warriors were finally able to apply the dagger in the final minute, thanks to a UMB turnover, ground ball pickup by Nick Terry (Southington), and Harrison Urda's  (Milford, NH) only strike of the match with 56 seconds left.

Eastern played patiently throughout, amassing a significant advantage in time of possession and limiting UMB to just 19 shots through three quarters. Defensively, Clay Arnold and freshman Adam Cariveau (Hudson, MA) – who share the UMB scoring lead along with freshman Josh Holmes  (Weymouth, MA)– managed a total of only one goal and one assist. Holmes did not play.

Leading by three after three quarters, the Warriors appeared to gain some quick momentum when faceoff specialist Jesse Schulze (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) corralled the opening faceoff and fed freshman Samuel Watson (Trumbull), who ripped his fourth goal of the match. Rougeot followed with a pair of goals 34 seconds apart that allowed the Warriors to move out to a comfortable 10-4 lead with 11:34 left.  The first goal followed a save by Eastern's Chris Gorman (Shrewsbury, MA), and the second was again set up following a successful faceoff.

Schulze won 15 of 28 faceoffs in the match, nine coming in 14 fourth-quarter tries. Gorman made eight saves and left in the final four minutes with a 12-9 lead. Freshman Taylor Huta (Waterford) was in net when UMB connected on its final two goals. Freshman Alex Surette (Melrose, MA) was credited with nine saves in a route-going performance for UMass.

Rougeot totaled five goals on a game-high 14 shots (half of them landing on cage) and Watson four, with Lee (three) the only UMB player with more than two. Anthony Choronzy (Clinton) and Terry combined for 15 ground balls, leading both teams in that category.

Sunday's game was the first of seven LEC games over the final 19 days of the regular season for Eastern. The Warriors visit the University of Southern Maine Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a makeup contest.