MANSFIELD, CT – After a regular season matchup that ended in a 1-1 tie after 120 minutes at Hannaford Field in Gorham, Maine, the #4 seed Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer welcomed the #5 seed University of Southern Maine to Rick McCarthy Field for the first round of the Little East Conference Tournament. In a physical match between both teams, the Warriors (7-8-2) fell to the Huskies (12-3-3) on a chilly night in Mansfield, Connecticut by a final score of 2-0.
 
    Southern Maine wasted no time looking to take the lead early when sophomore forward Catriona Gould received a touch pass from junior midfielder Emma Forgues as she split through two Eastern defenders. Gould's shot would be lifted too high and ring off the crossbar to keep the match knotted up at zero. The forward would challenge senior goalkeeper Alexis Tyrrell (Torrington) again in the 9^th minute with a shot from the right side that would be swallowed up. However just 18 seconds after that initial save, Forgues would find senior forward Ciera Berthiaume with a quick pass on the left side before Berthiaume relayed it over to Gould on the right as the defense collapsed around her. This left Gould alone on the right side of the field and she would beat Tyrrell with a shot just inside the bottom left post to give the Huskies the lead.
 
    Although the Huskies controlled the pace in the opening 10 minutes of the match, Eastern would fight back and look to even things up on the scoreboard. It started in the 14^th minute when sophomore forward Ashlyn Rogers (Portsmouth, RI) fired a shot high and wide to the left side of sophomore goalkeeper Bre Atwood. A few minutes later, sophomore defender Jillian Parenteau (West Greenwich, RI) lifted a ball into the box, but Atwood would intercept it as the Warrior offensive attack was unable to reach it in time to put a shot on net.
 
    One of the best chances for Eastern in the first half came off the foot of last week's Little East Conference Rookie of the Week first-year forward Briley Harnois (Attleboro, MA). After sophomore defender Sarah Lowell was unable to head the ball out of harms way, Harnois streaked through the Southern Maine defense before airing out a shot from the left side that Atwood denied. In the 39^th minute, Harnois would have another chance to put one in the back of the net when senior midfielder Hailey Montesanto (East Haven) tried to hit her with a cross pass from the left side of the pitch but her pass would be covered up by Atwood, eliminating the opportunity for the Warriors.
 
    Heading into the halftime break, both Tyrrell and Atwood each recorded 4 saves for their respective teams while the Huskies held a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal (7-6 in total shots) and manufactured the only corner kick for either team through the first 45 minutes.
 
    Eastern would continue to place pressure on Southern Maine as the second half began as they continuously looked to rush into the offensive zone to create opportunities to tie up the match. Following a shot attempt from the right side in the 60^th minute that Atwood handled easily, first-year midfielder Dani Rovalino (Simsbury) nearly tied the match when her shot clanged off the crossbar in the 62^nd minute. Receiving a pass from junior midfielder Juliette Hogan (Preston), the younger Rovalino shifted towards the center of the offensive zone and ripped a shot that hit off the top of the crossbar before bouncing out of play.
 
    The Huskies would respond with an offensive rush of their own against sophomore goalkeeper Emily Wallace (Smithtown, NY) who started the second half when Berthiaume received a pass from Forgues around three defenders in the box before firing the shot which deflected off junior defender Grace Muller (Johnston, RI) to set up a corner kick for Southern Maine. Berthiaume would nearly earn an assist on the corner kick as she lifted the ball to the center of the box where first-year midfielder Kiki Huntress leaped over the Eastern defense and headed the ball just wide of the goal.
 
    Again, the Warriors would respond with an attack of their own in the 71^st minute starting with a corner kick by Parenteau. The defender would send a line drive into the box that found Harnois on the right side who looked to fire on Atwood but was blocked by Sarah Lowell which led to another corner for Eastern. On this attempt, Parenteau would lift the ball high into the box as Grace Muller charged into the box and headed it just high of the goal as the Warriors still trailed with time winding down. Unrelentingly, Eastern continued to make the Huskies work on defense with Harnois having another scoring opportunity in the 73^rd minute off a pass from the right corner by first-year defender Daria DiBiasio (Richmond, RI) which sailed high of the goal mouth.
 
    Southern Maine would extend their lead in the 89^th minute when Berhiaume located senior midfielder Alexandra Allain streaking down the right side of the offensive zone past the Warrior defense. As Wallace came out of the goal in an attempt to squash the scoring chance, Allain made a touch pass to Emma Forgues in the center of the box who put the ball in the back of the net to seal the win for the Huskies. Southern Maine will now travel to Danbury, Connecticut to face #1 seed Western Connecticut State University in the Little East Conference Tournament Semifinals on Thursday night at 6:00 PM.
 
    As Eastern's season draws to a close, they finish the year with a 7-8-2 overall record (4-6-0 at home, 3-2-2 on the road) and a 4-2-2 record in Little East Conference play during the regular season. The Warriors were led on offense this season by Briley Harnois who finishes her rookie season with six goals and 13 points while senior Hailey Montesanto closed out her four-year career at Eastern with five goals, including a hat trick against Fitchburg State University in the second game of the year. Alexis Tyrrell held the fort down in net for the team this season, appearing in 16 games and starting 15 of them to the tune of over 1,100 minutes played, giving up 23 goals, making 70 saves, earning a 1.80 goals against average, and recording two shutouts. Backing her up in net was Emily Wallace who started two games, made 10 total appearances for 379 minutes of playing time, gave up four goals while making 16 saves to finish the year with a 0.81 goals against average and having a hand in two shutouts for the Warriors.