FITCHBURG, Mass. – Sophomore forward Briley Harnois (Attleboro, MA) has picked up right where she left off after leading the 2021 Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team in scoring, recording the 25^th hat trick in program history in a 5-2 non-conference win Tuesday night over Fitchburg State University at Elliot Field that gives first-year head coach Sarah Tompkins with her first win as a collegiate head coach.

Tompkins, a former assistant at Division I Quinnipiac University, replaced former 22-year head coach Chris D'Ambrosio this fall and Harnois' penalty-kick goal early in the match had helped the Warriors to a 1-1 tie at Wentworth Institute of Technology Saturday in Tompkins' first official game in charge of the program.

Eastern (1-0-1) scored four times in a span of 16 minutes in the second half to expand a 1-0 halftime lead and post its ninth win over Fitchburg (1-2-0) in the nine-game series. Seven of the wins have come by shutout.

Harnois and first-year forward Katelyn Herbert (Bethpage, NY) each scored back-to-back goals in the match. Harnois' eighth career goal midway through the first half staked Eastern to a 1-0 lead and Harnois added two more and Herbert came off the bench for the first two of her career in a span of 16 minutes in the second half to allow the Warriors to pull away.

Junior defender Jillian Parenteau (West Greenwich, RI) contributed her first collegiate point with an assist on Harnois' second goal nine minutes into the second that made it 2-0, and sophomore midfielder Hailey Cocca (Stratford) chipped in her first career assist on Herbert's second goal that pushed the lead to 5-1 with 18 minutes left.

Eastern's defense allowed the Falcons to put only six shots on net, with junior Emily Wallace (Smithtown, NY) and junior Rachel Hughes (Columbia) each stopping two shots. Wallace is now 5-1-1 lifetime.

Eastern opens at home Saturday at 4 p.m. against Babson College at Rick McCarthy Field. The Beavers (2-0-0) bring a ten-game unbeaten (6-0-4) streak into Wednesday's game at Brandeis University before meeting the Warriors for the fourth time in the series. Babson leads the series with Eastern, 2-1-0, winning 1-0 at home in 2019.