DANBURY, Conn. - Senior midfielder Myah Croze scored both goals and was set up by precise passes from sophomore forward Suzana Imetovsky  as the Western Connecticut State University women's soccer team extended its win streak to four games with a 2-1 Little East Conference victory Eastern Connecticut State University at the Westside Athletic Complex on Wednesday night.

Coming off its fifth LEC playoff championship in the last six years, Western (6-4-0, 3-0-0 LEC) improved to 6-0-2 against Eastern (3-3-2, 1-2-0 LEC) in the last eight matchup, handing the Warriors their first road loss in six matches (3-1-2) this year.

Second-team All-LEC sophomore forward Briley Harnois (Attleboro, MA) scored her team-leading sixth goal of the year – matching her total of 2021 – early in the second half but the Warriors were unable to gain the equalizer. WestConn got goals 73 seconds apart in the opening minutes from Croze – last year's LEC Offensive Player-of-the-Year – and limited Eastern to four shots en route to its fifth straight win over Eastern.

At the 5:41 mark, Croze placed her fourth marker of the season past Warriors' junior netminder Rachel Hughes (Columbia) following a scramble in front of the net, and made it 2-0 a little over a minute later.
Hughes finished with nine saves to keep the hosts from scoring again over the final 83 minutes. Harnois broke down the right side of the field following a swift pass from junior midfielder Lindsay Fishman (South Windsor) from about 50 yards away from WestConn relief goalie Kasey Donnelly, and her shot went all the way across the goal face and tucked inside the back left corner of the goal.  Harnois shares the LEC goal lead with three others, including Imetovski.

WestConn starting keeper Gia Giorgianni was credited with the victory after hurling a shutout over the first 45 minutes.  She was not asked to make a save on Eastern's two first-half shots.

ECSU hosts  Keene State College (5-4-1, 1-1-0 LEC) Saturday at noon in the third of three straight LEC contests. The Warriors have won five of the last six against Keene, which evened its LEC record Wednesday night with a 4-1 home win over Plymouth State University. Keene lost, 3-1, Friday night at Western, and was outshot, 29-2.

Eastern has won the last three at home against the Owls, including a 3-2 overtime decision in 2020. In last year's 2-1 road victory over Keene, current junior Alexie Root (Old Saybrook) scored the tying goal on an assist from Harnois late in the first half, and won it with her second goal of the match with under ten minutes left.