WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – On Senior Day, it was truly a day for seniors.
Fourteen players contributed a goal or assist – seniors accounting for four goals and four assists -- as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team won its third straight game with a 10-0 non-conference victory over Pratt Institute Saturday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field.
Senior midfielder
Andres Mayuri (West Hartford) and sophomore
Sean Cafferty (Clinton) each had three assists and seniors
Larson Richards (Mansfield) and
Ryan Sirois (Tolland) each had two goals. The three assists give Mayuri a team-leading eight this year and 20 in his career.
All 24 healthy players saw at least 20 minutes of work.
For Eastern (8-4-2), junior
Eric Kingue (Vernon), sophomore
Logan Prempeh (Vernon) and first-year player
Caiden Hettrick-Rivera (Portland) each scored their first career goals and first-year goalkeeper
Zack Doncet (Portland) made his collegiate debut as the third of three Eastern keepers, none of whom were called upon for a save.
The men's soccer program recognized its outgoing players following
the game Saturday at Thomas Nevers Field. Those players and their
families who were recognized were Jared Caroline, Caleb Ennin,
Andres Mayuri, Larson Richards, and Ryan Sirois.
(Photo by Abby Paris i'25)
Eastern scored four times in a span of 14 minutes to take a 4-0 lead midway through the first period, with first-year defender
Lex Edwards (Milford) setting up the first goal with a corner kick five minutes into the match for his first career point. Richards' header at the left post off a serve from Mayuri made it 2-0 seven minutes later, and first-year player
Niall O'Brien (Guilford) followed 26 seconds later with his fourth goal of the year on a cross from sophomore
Logan Brennan (Farmington). Brennan's team-leading seventh goal of the season on another pass from Mayuri in the 20
th minute pushed the lead to 4-0 and Sirois got a final touch on a shot from Cafferty that gave the Warriors a 5-0 halftime lead.
Eastern outshot Pratt (1-10-2), 48-1, and collected all 13 of the game's corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Dimitrios Papagiannakopoulos made 14 first-half saves to keep the game respectable, with sophomore Anil Pugh adding eight more over the final 41 minutes to give the duo 22 on the afternoon.
Outgoing seniors recognized after the match with their families were
Jared Caroline (South Windsor), Caleb Ennin (East Hartford), Mayuri, Richards, and Sirois.
Eastern hosts Babson College in a second-straight non-conference match Tuesday at Nevers Field. The Beavers are ranked first in New England Region II and 15
th nationally.