MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior Taylor Healey contributed to three straight Plymouth State University  goals by scoring two and assisting on another as the Panthers pinned a 3-1 Little East Conference loss on the Eastern Connecticut State University field hockey team Saturday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.
 
A winner of three of the previous four against Plymouth (6-3, 4-1 LEC), Eastern (3-6, 1-4 LEC) scored an early goal Saturday that stood up for only six minutes before the Panthers scored twice in a minute to take a 2-1 lead at halftime, and added an insurance marker six minutes into the second half.
 
A second-team all-conference midfielder last year for Plymouth, which split half of its 12 LEC regular-season games and finished under .500 overall, Healey leads the LEC's second-ranked offensive team in goals (15) and points (36). She shares the LEC in points per game (4.00) and is third in goals (15).
 
First-year forward Emma Sanson (Thomaston) pulled into a share of the Eastern lead with her fifth goal of the year with just under two minutes left in the first quarter, but PSU junior Piper Sherbert tossed a shutout the rest of the way. Sherbert, who was not in goal when Eastern shut out Plymouth, 2-0, in the first round of the LEC playoffs last year at McCarthy Field, made four saves for her fourth win of the year without a loss.
 
Sanson was credited with four of Eastern's nine shots, with Sherbert saving two of the attempts. Sanson's goal was set up by junior midfielder Leah Kowalasky (Middlebury), who picked up her third assist of the year.  The goal was set up by sophomore midfielder Liz LaMarco (West Hartford), whose initial drive was deflected by Sherbert to Kowalasky, who found Sanson in the middle of the circle.
 
Healey's tying goal in the first five minutes of the second quarter came on a shot from the left side and beat a diving Eastern senior goalie Sarah Gallagher (South Windsor). Five minutes into the second quarter, junior Athena Comeau took Healey's penalty corner on the right side and put the Panthers ahead for good.
 
Late in the first half,  Eastern had three penalty corners (the Warriors held an 11-6 advantage in that department) in succession that resulted in shots, two of which were saved by Sherbert. Eastern's final bid for a goal came inside the final minute of the third quarter when first-year forward Angelina Falleni (Byram, NJ) sent in a penalty corner, which eventually ended up on the stick of senior defender Grace Mangiameli (Suffield), whose shot sailed wide.
 
Gallagher finished with five saves.
 
Eastern visits Salve Regina University in a non-conference match Tuesday at 6 p.m. before playing seven of its final eight regular-season games in the conference. Salve (4-5) is coming off consecutive 10-0 games, defeating Dean College at home by that score before losing a Commonwealth Coast Conference road decision to Endicott College by an identical score.