PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Looking to earn a bye in the first round of the 2021 Little East Conference Tournament, Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer traveled up to Plymouth, New Hampshire to take on Plymouth State University in the first of three Little East Conference matches to end the season. Using a dominant first half performance, the Warriors (9-6-0, 5-1-0 LEC) came away with the 3-0 victory over the Panthers (3-10-0, 1-7-0 LEC) at Arold Field.
 
    Eastern looked to take control immediately in the first minute when first-year midfielder Walter Scudder (Unionville) took the first crack at sophomore goalkeeper Nicolas Cornejo in the net. Cornejo would turn away Scudder's shot along with three shots by junior forward Ryan Sirois (Tolland) over the course of the first 24 minutes of play.
 
    It would not be until the 28^th minute that the Warriors would breakthrough against the Panthers' defense. A corner kick by junior midfielder Andres Mayuri (West Hartford) would wind up leading to an offensive chance for Eastern that was finished off by senior Will Toomey (Willington) in front to give the Warriors their first goal of the afternoon.
 
    The continued pressure by Eastern led to two more headers directed at Cornejo off the head of Toomey, but the Panther's goalkeeper stood tall. Plymouth State would get their first offensive opportunity in the 33^rd minute when senior midfielder Eli Child tested sophomore goalkeeper Dylan Pallanck (Willington) but was turned away.
 
    As the teams headed into the half, the Warriors held a 10-3 shot advantage over the Panthers with eight of those shots making it on goal. Eastern also recorded eight first half corner kicks as the offensive consistently found themselves in a position to extend their 1-0 advantage as the first half wore on.
 
    Fast and furious was the name of the game for the boys from Eastern as just 45 seconds into the second half, senior Larson Richards (Mansfield) located senior defender Jackson Trierweiler (Framingham, MA) in the offensive zone. Trierweiler made the most of his rare offensive chance as he normally plays back on the defensive end, pushing the ball past Cornejo to earn the first collegiate goal of his career. The senior also played a career-high 62 minutes in the match.
 
    Just over a minute later, Richards would have a hand in another Warrior goal when he found senior defender Emmanuel Agyemang (East Hartford) for his third goal of the year to put Eastern ahead by three early in the second half. Throughout the entire second half, the Warrior defense would limit Plymouth State to just two shots, both of which reached goal and were saved by Pallanck to preserve the shutout victory.
 
    Dylan Pallanck finished the game with four saves before being lifted with just under 6 minutes remaining for sophomore goalkeeper Nathan Yeich (Willington) who recorded one save on the afternoon.
 
    With the win and the WestConn loss to UMass Boston today, Eastern can clinch the Little East Conference Regular Season Championship if they win their final two games against Keene State and UMass Dartmouth. Additionally, the two wins would give the Warriors a first round bye and the one seed in the Little East Conference Tournament.
 
    The Warriors will return to action on Monday, October 25^th for their first of two crucial home matchups against Keene State in a Little East Conference matchup starting at 2:30 PM at Thomas Nevers Field. The last time these two teams met was the 2019 Little East Conference Championship game at Rick McCarthy Field in which the Owls took down Eastern by a final score of 1-0.