CASTLETON, Vt. – Sophomore keeper Nathan Yeich (Willington) made six saves for his fourth shutout in seven starts this year and the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team broke the game open with two goals in just over ten minutes midway through the second half in a 3-0 Little East Conference victory over Castleton University Saturday afternoon at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
The win was the ninth without a loss for Eastern (6-4-2, 3-2-0 LEC) against Castleton (3-6-2, 1-2-1) in the all-time series, with the Warriors holding a 28-3 scoring advantage in those matches. With the win, Eastern improved to 5-1-2 away from Thomas Nevers Field this year.
 
Senior Ryan Sirois (Tolland) scored on a one-timer off a feed from senior Andres Mayrui (West Hartford) 20 minutes into ply, and Yeich made four saves to give the Warriors a 1-0 halftime lead. In the second half, Eastern outshot the Spartans, 10-4, with first-year midfielder Niall O'Brien (Guilford) and sophomore midfielder Josh Bouchard (Springfield, MA) connecting for goals a little over ten minutes apart that put the game away for Eastern. The goal was the third this year for O'Brien and the first in the career of Bouchard.
 
With the win, defending LEC regular-season and playoff champion Eastern tightens its grip on third place in the standings behind unbeaten Western Connecticut (5-0 LEC) and Massachusetts Boston (4-0), both of whom defeated Eastern by 3-1 scores earlier this year at Thomas Nevers Field.
 
Yeich dropped his goals-against average under 1.00 to 0.91 and improved his save percentage to .837. Yeich shares the LEC lead with four shutouts and is third in GAA .
 
Eastern hosts Rhode Island College in an LEC match Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Warriors eliminated the Anchormen from last year's LEC playoffs with a 3-1 semifinal win at Nevers Field. Eastern scored the first three goals of that match before the Anchormen got on the board with eight minutes left.