DANBURY, Conn. -- Freshman forward Lorenzo Lauria headed home a corner kick from senior Matthew Restrepo with 2:12 remaining in the second overtime for his fourth goal of the season to lift the Western Connecticut State University men's soccer team to a 2-1 Little East Conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in a Little East Conference battle Wednesday night at the Westside Athletic Complex.

The loss is the first in six games for Eastern (5-3-0, 2-1-0 LEC) – the pre-season favorite to claim the conference title -- against a New England opponent this year and drops the Warriors to 1-4-0 away from home. WestConn (9-3-0, 2-1-0 LEC) improved to 5-2-0 at home this year with its third straight victory.
Eastern had shut out WestConn  twice when the teams met in 2019, eliminating WestConn, 5-0, in the semifinals of the Little East tournament at Rick McCarthy Field. It marked the fourth straight one-goal game between the two teams at the Westside Complex, Eastern having won two of those previous three.

Ranked sixth in its region, Eastern was ranked first in the LEC pre-season coaches poll. WestConn, coming off a 13-5-3 season in 2019, was rated third.

Wednesday, Eastern took a 1-0 lead in the 11^th minute on first-year forward Sean Cafferty's (Clinton) first career goal on a header off a pass from senior midfielder Will Toomey (Willington), but the Warriors were shut out over the final 98 minutes.

Eastern's lead stood up until WestConn forced overtime on freshman Daniel Villalba's first career goal with ten minutes left in regulation that was the first goal allowed by Eastern against New England competition after the Warriors had scored  19 unanswered.

Villalba received a 40-yard pass, took one dribble toward the middle of the box and beat Eastern sophomore goalie Dylan Pallanck (Willington) -- who made a career-high nine saves in the game – for his first collegiate goal.

Senior Daniel Sszabo finished with four saves for WestConn, none bigger than when he stuffed junior forward Ryan Sirois (Tolland) on a break-away attempt at the top of the box with 14 minutes remaining in regulation.

WestConn outshot the Warriors, 25-11.  Twice a Warriors' defender -- junior defender Larson Richards (Mansfield) a minute into the second half and first-year defender Alexander Voigt (Miami, FL) with seven minutes left in regulation – cleared the ball off the line to preserve Eastern's 1-0 lead.

Eastern hosts Keene State College in a conference match Saturday at 1 p.m. at Thomas Nevers Field. The Owls blanked Eastern, 1-0, to win the 2019 LEC playoff title at Rick McCarthy Field.