CASTLETON, VT – Closing out a three-game road trip, Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer (4-5-2, 1-2-2 LEC) faced off against Castleton University (5-4-2, LEC 2-1-1) in a pivotal Little East Conference matchup. Coming into the day, the Spartans led the Warriors in the standings by two points with one game in hand and maintained that edge as the two teams ended in a 0-0 tie after 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime frames.
 
    Eastern looked to draw first blood in the 10^th minute when senior forward Carlie Dreyfus (Stafford Springs) fired on junior goalkeeper Alex Benfatti but was turned away. Less than three minutes later, sophomore midfielder Victoria Roman (Mexico City, MX) took a corner kick which found the foot of Dreyfus again, but Benfatti swallowed up the opportunity for her second save of the half.
 
    Castleton would respond with an offensive opportunity of their own in the 16^th minute when junior midfielder Bella Varisco looked to give the Spartans the lead, but senior goalkeeper Alexis Tyrrell (Torrington) was there to make the save and would follow it up with another save in the 22^nd minute against junior forward Kaidin Gauthier to keep the match scoreless.
 
    The Warriors would have two more cracks in the first half to take the lead, but both Roman and sophomore forward Ashlyn Rogers (Portsmouth, RI) would be turned away by Benfatti who made four saves in the first 45 minutes of play. In the final minute of the half, sophomore midfielder Devyn Beliveau-Gale gave the Spartans a chance to go ahead before the break, but Tyrrell would make her third save of the match to bring the evenly matched contest into the break with no score.
 
    The only opportunity for either team to break the scoreless affair in regulation came in the 51^st minute when senior midfielder Sierra DeCarli (Tolland) was unable to put it past Benfatti as the two teams would battle evenly for the next 39 minutes and send the match into overtime.
 
    Over both overtimes, Tyrrell made two saves to bring her total for the afternoon to five, earn her second shutout of the season, and the third shutout of her career. The Warriors were unable to threaten Benfatti in the overtime and the two squads would end in a 0-0 tie after 110 minutes.
 
    Eastern will return home on Wednesday, October 13^th for their next match against Little East Conference opponent Rhode Island College at 6:00 PM at Rick McCarthy Field. The Warriors currently sit in fifth place in the conference standings in which the top six teams make the conference tournament. Up to this point in the season, both teams have played five conference matches with Eastern leading by two points over the eighth place Anchorwoman making the matchup pivotal for the postseason hopes of both teams.