DANBURY, Conn. – For the tenth time in the last 13 meetings between the Eastern Connecticut State University and Western Connecticut State University men's soccer teams, the game has been decided by one goal.
 
While Eastern has been on the winning end in six of the previous nine one-goal decisions, one of them did not occur Wednesday night in the Wolves' 1-0 Little East Conference verdict at the Westside Athletic Complex that ended Eastern's (4-5-2, 2-3-0 LEC) three-game unbeaten streak. WestConn (11-2-2, 4-0-1 LEC) remains unbeaten in the conference and improved to 6-1-2 at home.
 
On Wednesday, sophomore Filipe Dutra converted what amounted to the game-winning goal on a free kick in the first half  as the teams played to a 1-0 outcome for the seventh time in 17 years under Eastern head coach Greg DeVito.
 
WestConn came out strong and dictated the tempo in the first half. Dutra ripped a righty rocket just underneath the crossbar from just outside the box eight minutes into the contest for the goal that would stand up over the final 82 minutes. However, Eastern came out strong in the second half and had several quality chances to notch the equalizer. Sophomore Niall O'Brien (Guilford) fired a shot that appeared to be headed into the corner of the twine but Wolves sophomore goalkeeper Zachary Benson per smothered it before it could cross the line.  O'Brien took three of Eastern's five shots.
 
Benson finished the game with three saves while Eastern senior keeper Dylan Pallanck (Willington) made two.
 
Eastern visits Plymouth State University Saturday at 3 p.m. in a conference match. The Warriors are 12-1-2 against the Panthers the last 15 times the programs have met.
 
Western Connecticut Sports Information contributed to this game account.