MANSFIELD, Conn. –Sophomore forward Louis Gazo lofted a 20-yard shot from the right side over the head of Eastern Connecticut State University junior keeper Dylan Pallanck (Willington) that carried inside the far left post with 13:24 left to lift the No. 18 nationally-ranked Babson College men's soccer team to a 1-0 non-conference win Tuesday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.
 
Babson (10-3-2), ranked first in New England Region II and 18^th nationally, had a number of chances to score but could not break through until Gazo took senior defender RJ Parrilla's long sideline pass near the Babson bench and sent a drive over the head of Pallanck, who backpedaled while looking into a harsh sun but could not get a glove on the perfectly-placed shot.
 
The loss snaps Eastern's (8-5-2) three-game winning streak while the Beavers improve to 6-1-1 in their last eight matches, the loss in that stretch coming at defending national champion Connecticut College a week ago.
 
In his ninth straight start, junior goalie Nathan Yeich (Willington) left with an injury ten minutes into a scoreless match and Pallanck came on to make five saves – and also got help when junior defender Jaren Haddock (South Windsor) went to his knees to knock down senior midfielder Ryan Grund's  potential go-ahead goal  midway through the first half -- and was able to keep the game scoreless until Gazo connected on his fifth goal of the season. Pallanck denied the Beavers on several 1v1 opportunities and also came off his line to grab a number of crossing passes that thwarted several additional Babson scoring bids that kept the game scoreless.
 
Eastern had seemingly broken the scoreless deadlock midway through the second half when senior defender Larson Richards (Mansfield) was able to outmaneuver a Babson defender in the box and get a right foot on the ball and poke it past Babson sophomore keeper Walker White inside the right post, but a foul on Richards nullified the goal. First-year midfielder Niall O'Brien (Guilford) had set up the play when he won the ball from a Babson defender on the sideline after a Beaver throw-in and sent a pass into the box to Richards.
 
Babson outshot Eastern, 12-2, in the first half but could not break through despite keeping the Warriors hemmed in in their own end much of the time. Pallanck stopped Gazo's 1v1 bid 15 minutes into the match with a save and senior midfielder Ross Shellow's follow-up shot sailed wide left.  Two minutes after Haddock kept the game scoreless with his defensive save, Babson graduate Ryan Goss found senior midfielder Mitchell Collins  in the box with a serve from the left side, but Collins' header carried over the crossbar.
 
Eastern's best chance in the game came a minute after Collins' missed header when Eastern senior midfielder Andres Mayuri (West Hartford) got a touch on a deflected ball, but his attempt from 12 yards went wide of the left post.
 
Babson had two more dangerous shots in the final 11 minutes of the half, but senior midfielder Jack Dugan's blast from the right side sailed over the top, and senior forward Samuel Smith couldn't get a head on Grund's low, hard pass from the left side.
 
Seven minutes before his go-ahead goal was nullified, Richards had a chance with an open shot on a pass from the right side from sophomore forward Logan Brennan (Farmington), but White leaped to get a hand on the blast and send it over the cross bar.
 
Babson outshot Eastern, 21-7 in defeating Eastern on its home field for the first time after three consecutive losses. Yeich made  two saves before departing. White needed only four saves in the win.
 
Eastern hosts Plymouth State University Saturday in a Little East Conference match.