MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior keeper Emily Wallace (Smithtown, MA) made four saves over the first half to record her first home win of the season and first-year midfielder Lilly Simpson (Norwalk) scored her first career goal on her first shot when the Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team shut out the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 4-0, Wednesday evening at Rick McCarthy Field.
 
Sophomore forward Hailey Cocca (Stratford) had a goal and two assists and first-year forward Katelyn Herbert (Bethpage, NY) and senior midfielder Grace Muller (Johnston, RI)  a goal and assist each in leading Eastern (6-5-3) to its second home win of the year.
 
Leading 1-0 on Herbert's fourth goal of the season five minutes into play, Eastern broke it open when Cocca and Simpson scored less than two minutes apart midway through the half.
 
The match was the first between the programs since 2009 and the win over Coast Guard (5-7-2) gives Eastern a 6-1-0 lead in the all-time series which began in 2004.
 
Wallace made four saves in the first 45 minutes to improve her personal record to 4-2-3. It was her first win this year at McCarthy Field. At home this year, Wallace is now 1-1-1, having previously lost, 3-0, to Babson College in her first home start of the year five weeks ago before tying Castleton University, 1-1, in a Little East Conference match Oct. 8.
 
Wallace left the match with a 3-0 lead and junior Rachel Hughes (Columbia) stopped four shots in the second half as the Warriors posted their sixth shutout of the season, third in six games.
 
Herbert converted the first corner kick of the game to give the Warriors a quick 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. Cocca sent the corner kick into the box, where Muller got a foot on it, deflecting it to Herbert. The lead remained at one until Cocca and Simpson scored in succession as the Warriors opened up a 3-0 lead.
 
Ten minutes after Herbert's opening goal, Coast Guard nearly tied the match when junior forward Chase Merrick  nailed the crossbar on her only shot of the match off a corner kick from junior midfielder Sidney Palinkas. Four minutes later, the Bears were awarded a free kick to the right of the box, but Wallace leaped to punch the shot over the crossbar. Trailing 3-0, the 14 minutes into the second half, the Bears hit the crossbar again, this time by junior forward Emma Lynch-Galvin. Senior midfielder Kelly Wade collected the rebound but Hughes made her second save off her shot to keep the lead at 3-0. Moments later, Muller added Eastern's fourth goal.
 
Herbert and sophomore Morgan Kelly (Florida, NY) assisted on Cocca's goal in the 26^th minute. Kelly won the ball at midfield near the Eastern bench and sent it down the left flank to Herbert, who carried a long way before crossing it into the box, where, on one hop, Cocca outmaneuvered a Coast Guard defender for the ball and volleyed it with her right foot from close range inside the left post, lifting the Warriors into a 2-0 lead. Just 1:28 later, Simpson headed in Cocca's  corner kick on the first shot of her career to give Eastern a 3-0 halftime lead.
 
Muller closed out the scoring 15 minutes into the second half on a feed from sophomore forward Sara Honold (Wantage, NJ).
 
The points were the first of the season and the assist the first career one for Muller. The assist was the first point in the career of Honold and the first of the season for Kelly.
 
In her season debut in goal, junior Hope Drake-Duval made three saves for Coast Guard.
 
Eastern visits Plymouth State University in a Little East Conference match Saturday at noon and closes out the regular-season hosting the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in a conference match Oct. 29 at noon.