DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team scored three goals in a span of 13 minutes to snap a tie and went on to post a 4-2 Little East Conference victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Monday afternoon at Cressy Field.
 
By defeating UMass (5-10, 4-5 LEC) on the Corsairs' home field for only the second time in the last nine tries, Eastern (8-4, 6-2 LEC) moves into a three-way tie for second place in the conference with pre-season favorite Worcester State University and Westfield State University. The Warriors have won three of their last four –all in conference play.
 
The four goals equal the most in a match since a 5-0 home victory over Salem State University on Sept. 19, 2018
 
Picked for eighth in the LEC coaches' pre-season poll, Eastern trails leader Keene State College by a game but holds the tie-breaker over the Owls in view of its 3-2 overtime home win over Keene a month ago.
 
Four games remain in the LEC regular season before the first round of the playoffs Nov. 2. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs in the 13-team conference, with the top four seeds hosting the bottom four seeds in the first round.
 
Senior Brianna Nolan (Watertown) became the 13^th player in program history – first in four years -- to score at least three goals in a match. Nolan recorded her fifth career multi-goal game by scoring her tenth goal of the season  in the sixth minute, breaking a 1-1 tie with her 11^th goal to give the Warriors the lead for good five minutes into the second half, and made it 4-1 three minutes into the fourth quarter with the 23^rd goal of her 51-match career -- which moves her into third place all-time, 14 goals behind all-time leader Alex Kallagren (2014-17).
 
Nolan's 12 goals equal the second-most in a season in program history and are one shy of Hannah Keiser's record of 13 set in 2013. Nolan  shares second place in the conference this year in goals with Keene's Irini Stefanakos, who has played four more games. With 25 points in 12 matches, Nolan also ranks second in the LEC in points per match (2.08).
 
After Nolan's tiebreaking goal early in the third quarter, sophomore Isabel Sanchez' (Weston) sixth goal of the season less than a minute into the fourth quarter gave the Warriors a 3-1 lead and had junior goalie Sarah Gallagher (South Windsor) headed toward her seventh win of the season. Gallagher made four saves, with none needed in the final quarter when Nolan pushed the lead to 4-1 less than three minutes after Sanchez' strike.
 
First-year forward Liz LaMarco's (West Hartford) assist on Nolan's second goal was her team-leading fifth of the season.
 
Eastern closes with four LEC matches over the final 11 days of the regular season. The Warriors host Western Connecticut Wednesday at 4 p.m., then travel to face Worcester State Saturday and Framingham State University next Tuesday before closing the regular season hosting Salem State Oct. 30.
 
Western Connecticut was picked third in the pre-season poll after sharing second place in the 2019 LEC standings and advancing to the playoff semifinals. WestConn has posted identical 4-0 verdicts over the Warriors in their last two meetings after Eastern had recorded six straight victories in the series.