WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior Andrés Mayuri (West Hartford) and junior Caleb Ennin (East Hartford) each had a goal and assist and sophomore keeper Nathan Yeich (Willington) won his seventh game in nine decisions as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team won its third game in its last four starts with a 3-1 Little East Conference victory over Rhode Island College Wednesday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field.
 
Defending LEC regular-season and playoff champion Eastern (7-4-2, 4-2-0 LEC), which unofficially has secured no worse than a first-round LEC playoff home game in early November, won for the third straight time over Rhode Island College (2-6-3, 1-3-2 LEC) after having lost five in a span of six games.
 
Ennin, who created problems for the Anchormen all afternoon from his forward position, scored the first goal just four minutes into action, then initiated an insurance goal with 24 minutes left when he dealt the ball to Mayuri, whose cross from the left side found sophomore Logan Brennan (Farmington) at the left post for a one-timer that made it 3-1. Brennan leads the team with six goals and 12 points. The assist was the team-leading fifth this year and 17^th in the four-year career of Mayuri.
 
Mayuri made it 2-0 in the 21^st minute when he converted a goalkeeper mistake into an easy goal into an open net before the Anchormen cut the Eastern lead in half early in the second half on senior Brandon Ramos' first goal of the year. Ramos hammered senior Jonathan Oliveira's  crossing pass from the left side with a low shot that sailed inside the far left post.
 
Yeich and junior Dylan Pallanck (Willington) split time in goal, each making two saves. Yeich left at halftime with a 2-0 lead, lowering his goals-against average to 0.91 – third best in the conference -- with his seventh win against two losses.
 
Sophomore Walter Scudder (Unionville) was credited with his second assist of the season on Ennin's opening goal. The play began when the ball was headed out of the Rhode Island zone to Scudder, who one-touched a long ball down the middle of the field where Ennin won control from an RIC defender just over midfield and carried alone to the top of the box before sliding a shot under the legs of junior keeper Jake Reed and inside the left post.
 
Reed and Wesley Perrotto split time in the Rhode Island net, combining for five saves. Eastern outshot the Anchormen, 17-8, and had twice as many corner kicks (6-3).
 
Eastern hosts Pratt Institute in a non-conference match Saturday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day.