CASTLETON, Vt. –  Sophomore midfielder Alexis Billings scored her sixth goal of the season  nine minutes and 39 seconds into overtime to lift the fourth-seeded Castleton University women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in the first round of the Little East Conference playoffs Tuesday evening at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
Eastern (6-6-5) scored the first goal of the match with four minutes left in the first half, but Castleton (8-10-1) tied it 11 minutes into the second half, and playing a man-up over the final 52 minutes, scored what proved to be the game-winner late in the first ten-minute overtime session on Billing's goal, which came on a 30-yard bomb from the right side which carried over the head of Eastern junior keeper Rachel Hughes (Columbia) and under the cross bar.
 
Billings had given Castleton a 1-1 tie in the regular-season contest against Eastern at Rick McCarthy Field when she scored with just under ten minutes left in regulation. Tied games end after 90 minutes of regulation play during the regular season, but extend into a 20-minute (non-sudden death) overtime period in conference and NCAA tournament play.

It marked the first time that Eastern lost a game this year after scoring first. The Warriors had won six and tied two after taking the first lead of the game.
 
Eastern sophomore midfielder Dani Rovalino (Simsbury) had set up the first goal of the match with a perfect pass in the box to junior forward Ashlyn Rogers (Portsmouth, RI), who beat Castleton senior keeper Alex Benfatti inside the left post soon after entering the match. That lead held up until senior midfielder Devyn Beliveau-Gale connected on her first goal of the season to tie the match early in the second half when Hughes lost her footing while attempting to make the save, allowing the ball to roll over the goal line.

Clinging to its 1-0 lead early in the second half, Rovalino nearly doubled Eastern's score but her 40-yard free kick clanged off the crossbar. After Castleton cleared the ball over the end line, senior defender Carmen Nieves (Sutton, MA) had her shot saved by Benfatti off the ensuing corner kick.
 
 Less than two minutes after the Spartans scored the tying goal, Eastern was tagged with its first red card of the year in the aftermath  of  a takedown outside the box, which allowed the hosts to play the reminder of the game – and scored the winning goal – with the extra player.
 
In her first start since Oct. 12, Hughes made three saves while Benfatti made five. Eastern outshot the Spartans, 11-7.
After advancing into the semifinal round of the tournament or beyond for 19 consecutive years, Eastern was eliminated in the first round for the second straight year.