MANSFIELD, CT – Riding their best regular season record and vying for their best Little East Conference record since 2015, Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey hosted Salem State at Rick McCarthy Field on Saturday for Senior Day. Although already guaranteed a spot in the Little East Conference Tournament starting next Tuesday, the Warriors (11-5, LEC 9-3) seeding was still up in the air with the potential to finish anywhere between 2^nd and 5^th in the conference depending on how their game versus the Vikings (8-8, 6-6 LEC) played out along with the matchup between Worcester State University and UMass Dartmouth later this afternoon.
 
    A win for Eastern would guarantee it a top three spot in the conference tournament regardless of the outcome in other games on Saturday along with their best finish in the Little East Conference since 2001.That season, the Warriors finished tied for third with Keene State and Bridgewater State University. Despite a rainy day at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex, it was graduate forward Brianna Nolan (Watertown) who brought the sunshine on Senior Day, scoring two goals in the second half to give Eastern the 3-2 win and No. 3 seed and a 3:30 p.m. first-round home playoff game against No. 6 Plymouth State University. The Panthers trimmed the Warriors, 2-1, in the regular-season contest Oct. 1 at Plymouth, NH, scoring two second-half goals to overcome Eastern's 1-0 halftime lead.

    The Warriors would control the tempo early, peppering senior goalie Kelli McCarthy with two early shots on goal before sophomore forward Isabel Sanchez (Weston) received a cross pass from senior midfielder Sydney Collentine (New Fairfield) on the left side of the field. Sanchez would fire it by McCarthy and put Eastern on top just under six minutes into the game.

    However, Salem State would respond with a second quarter barrage, looking to put the Warriors on their heels in this critical matchup. It would be first-year forward Julia Paulino would get the equalizer for the Vikings only 46 seconds into the second quarter after junior goalkeeper Sarah Gallagher (South Windsor) was unable to make the diving stop on the left side of the goal mouth.
 
    The offensive blitz by the Vikings would continue as they would earn three penalty corners in less than a minute, forcing the Eastern defensive front of first-year Aly Kendrick (North Branford), junior Grace Mangiameli (Suffield), and sophomore Leah Kowalasky (Middlebury) to hold off the constant pressure. Salem State would eventually break through the stout defense when junior midfielder Mikayla Mason crossed a pass over to senior forward Allison Couillard on the left side of the goal. Couillard would use an effective screen by first-year midfielder Alexia Hamilton to rifle a shot by Gallagher just inside the left post to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead going into the break.     It would be Eastern's turn to go on the offensive in the second half, generating two early penalty corners before Collentine would have a chance to knot the game up. Firing at the right side of the goal, Collentine was denied by senior defender Kaylan Harkins who got her stick down after McCarthy was beat to stop the ball from going into the goal. But mere seconds later following a penalty corner by first-year forward Liz LaMarco (West Hartford) it would be Nolan who tied things up when a pass by Sanchez found her in front with only McCarthy to beat and the forward knocked it into the center of the goal. Nolan's goal would be her 13^th of the season, tying her for most goals in a single season with Hannah Keiser who scored 13 goals back in 2013.
   
    But Nolan would not be done with her Senior Day heroics as she would earn the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter. The goal was set up by a LaMarco penalty corner in which Nolan got ahold of the ball near the net, but again it would be Kaylan Harkins making her second defensive save of the half to briefly keep the game tied. After a brief scramble on the left side of the goal mouth, the ball found the stick of Nolan again and she fired the game-winning goal by McCarthy to give the Warriors the eventual 3-2 victory. In recording her 14^th goal of the season, Nolan shattered Keiser's single-season goal record to become the record holder for most goals in a single season. Additionally, Nolan's two goals drove her career total to 25 which is good for fourth all-time in program and two behind Keiser for third all-time heading into the Little East Conference Tournament.
 
    As the clock expired and the Warriors rushed the field to celebrate their Senior Day victory on a rainy afternoon with Gallagher who recorded six saves on eight attempts, the clouds parted, and the sun came out to shine at Rick McCarthy Field. The victory earned Eastern at least a top three seed in the conference tournament, they can finish as high as the two seed depending on the outcome of Worcester State University-UMass Dartmouth game later on.
 
    The Warriors will host a team to be determined at a time to be determined pending final seeding and matchups at Rick McCarthy Field on Tuesday, November 2^nd in the first round of the Little East Conference Tournament.