PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team moved a step in the right direction of securing no worse than a first-round Little East Conference playoff home game when it defeated Rhode Island College for the eighth consecutive year, 2-0, Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Sophomores
Daria DiBiasio (Richmond, RI) and
Hailey Cocca (Stratford) each scored their first goals of the season and junior
Mackenzie Teper (Lisbon), sophomore
Olivia Davidson (Waterford) and first-year player
Katelyn Herbert (Bethpage, NY) each contributed their first career assists as Eastern (5-4-2, 3-2-1 LEC) strengthened its hold on third place in the conference.
With a game in hand, Castleton University (2-2-1 LEC) moved into fourth place in the conference Wednesday night with a 1-0 win at Keene State College (2-3-0 LEC), which shares fifth place with Massachusetts Boston (2-3-0 LEC). The Warriors close out their conference season with a road contest against Plymouth State University (1-3-2 LEC) Oct. 22 and a home contest in the regular-season finale Oct. 29 against Massachusetts Dartmouth (1-4-0 LEC).
The top two finishers in the conference draw first-round playoff byes, with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds hosting first-round matches against No. 6 and No. 5, respectively, Nov. 1.
DiBiasio gave Eastern the lead midway though the first half before Cocca added an insurance goal in the 73
rd minute. Junior
Rachel Hughes (Columbia) needed only one save to record her second career shutout, first since a 6-0 win over Massachusetts Dartmouth at Rick McCarthy Field during the Covid season of 2020-21.
Eastern visits Williams College Sunday at 1 p.m. in a non-conference match. The Ephs are 8-2-1 and ranked first in New England and No. 10 nationally. Williams has won all three matches in the series with Eastern, including a 4-1 verdict last year at McCarthy Field.
