PROVIDENCE, R.I. – As Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer (8-5-0, 5-1-0 LEC) winds down their regular season, the Warriors were set to face off against four Little East Conference opponents in their remaining five matches starting on Wednesday night against Rhode Island College (7-5-0, 4-2-0 LEC). Coming into the evening, six teams had just one lost in Little East conference play this season and UMass Dartmouth and Keene State were the only two of that bunch to have recorded a tie.

    The matchup with the Anchormen was pivotal for Eastern as they trailed them by three points in the conference standings with a game in hand and the winner would own the head-to-head tiebreaker in the Little East Conference standings. In Rhode Island College's case, a win would put them up by six points in addition to holding the head-to-head tiebreaker despite the game in hand over the Warriors. Rising to the occasion, Eastern would emerge victorious by a final score of 2-1 at Alumni Field in Providence, Rhode Island.

    The Warriors would be the first to threaten in this match as senior defender Emmanuel Agyemang (East Hartford) fired on senior goalkeeper Charlie Tashjian in the 7^th minute and was denied. Soon after it would be the Anchormen's turn to go on the offensive against sophomore goalkeeper Dylan Pallanck (Willington) as senior midfielder Sa-Leem Kamarah lifted a ball sent to him by forward Brandon Ramos just over the crossbar and a stationary Pallanck on the left side of the net.

    Rhode Island College would continue on the attack as a cross pass by forward Brandon Ramos missed the head of a leaping Kamarah and kept the score knotted at zero. A short while later, the Anchormen would have their best chance to score up to that point in the first half when senior Roman Davis hit junior Luis Blanco streaking down the middle of the field ahead of the Eastern defense. As Pallanck sprinted out of the box, Blanco lifted the shot off the side of his foot and sent it slightly to the left of the wide-open goal.

    Despite the offensive blitz, the Warriors would be the first to score when a turnover deep in Rhode Island College's defensive zone led to the ball finding the foot of senior defender Larson Richards (Mansfield). From about 20 feet away from the goal, Richards fired the ball high past a diving Tashjian to put the Warriors ahead 1-0 in the 28^th minute. Eastern would not settle for just one as another Anchormen turnover in the 30^th minute led to the ball finding junior midfielder Andres Mayuri (West Hartford) who located the wide-open first-year forward Sean Cafferty (Clinton) on the left side of the field. Cafferty would continue his sprint towards the goal before firing his shot into the lower right corner of the goal to extend the Warriors lead to two.
 
    However, Rhode Island College would respond immediately as a foul in the box by Eastern would give senior midfielder Jonathan Oliveira, the Anchormen's leading scorer, a chance to cut the Warriors lead in half with a penalty kick in the 31^st minute. Although well-anticipated by Pallanck, the senior was able to slip the ball underneath his dive attempt and bring Rhode Island College within one and bringing the combined goal total for both teams up to three in less than three minutes.

    Eastern would have two more chances to extend their lead back to two before the half would end. The first would come off a turnover by defender Edgardo Cardona which gave Cafferty a free run on the right side of the field, but his shot would miss inches to the left of the right post. A late corner kick by Mayuri warranted the second chance for the Warriors to score their third goal of the half when he sent the ball into midfielder Will Toomey (Willington) whose header was swallowed up by Tashjian. Heading into the halftime break with a 2-1 lead, the Warriors trailed in total shots 7-6, but held a 4-0 edge in shots on goal.  

    After the offensive explosion by both teams in the first half, the Little East Conference foes would begin to play a more defensive game in which the scoring opportunities would be far and few. The Anchormen looked to strike back and tie the score in the 54^th minute when a pass to Blanco on the left side of the field left him all alone with only Pallanck standing between him and a goal. The Willington native sprawled to his left, making a diving save to preserve the one goal lead for the Warriors.

    After Sean Cafferty's opportunity to extend the lead in the first half was turned away, the forward would have another chance in the second half but his shot from the left side of the net was turned away by Tashjian. Another Andres Mayuri corner kick in the 72^nd minute would find the head of the always dangerous Larson Richards on the left side of the goal, but again it would be Tashjian making a diving save as the ball bounced towards the net.

    In the closing minutes of the second half, the Anchormen would have one last gasp in them to try tying the score up when Johnathan Oliveira was awarded a corner kick. Oliveira would sail the kick over the middle of the goal mouth and the Warrior defense would clear. Although awarded another corner in the closing seconds of regulation, Rhode Island College would be unable to get one last scoring attempt as there was no ball in the immediate area which caused time to expire as Eastern came away with the 2-1 victory on the road.

    Dylan Pallanck finished the match with two saves on the three shot attempts he faced to earn his 7^th win of the year as he went toe to toe with Charlie Tashjian who recorded 6 saves on eight attempts.

    The win was the Warriors first since 2018 against the Anchormen having dropped their matchup in the spring at home at Rick McCarthy Field in the spring as well as their last road match in 2019 at Alumni Field. With three Little East Conference games remaining, Eastern holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Rhode Island College and UMass Boston who are both hot on their heels. Having lost to Western Connecticut earlier this year, the Warriors despite being tied pointwise for the Little East Conference lead, currently sit in second place due to head-to-head tiebreaker and now with a game in hand along with the head-to-head tiebreaker earned today, lead the Anchormen as well.

    Eastern will continue their three-game road trip as they head up to Babson College on Tuesday, October 16^th for their final non-conference match of the season at 3:30 PM. The two teams last met on a rainy night at Rick McCarthy Field in late-October of 2019 in which the Warriors came away with a 2-0 win.