PLYMOUTH, N.H. – First-year player Sebastian Kadlof (Clinton) and sophomore Niall O'Brien (Guilford) scored less than five minutes apart to break open a one-goal match late in the first half and the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team got goals from five different players in a 5-1 Little East Conference victory over Plymouth State University Saturday afternoon at Arold Field.
 
Now 13-1-2 in the last 16 matches against Plymouth (3-4-4, 0-4-2 LEC), Eastern (5-5-2, 3-3-0 LEC) improved to 3-1-1 in its last five games after losing two in a row and took over sole possession of fifth place in the nine-team conference. With two LEC regular-season matches remaining, the Warriors opened up a three-point lead for fifth place over the University of Southern Maine, which lost a 1-0 home decision to Keene State College Saturday.
 
The top six teams earn berths in the LEC playoffs, which get underway Tuesday, Oct. 31. Eastern is currently five points ahead of seventh-place VTSU Castleton, which played to a scoreless tie at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday.
 
Eastern holds the tie-breakers over both Southern Maine and Castleton, having beaten each of those teams handily earlier this year.
 
First-year player Richard MacDaniel (Stratford) gave Eastern a lead with his second goal in the 19^th minute, and Kadlof and O'Brien followed later in the first half to make it 3-0 with seven minutes left in the first half. The goal was the first in the career of Kadlof.
 
O'Brien and junior Sean Cafferty (Clinton) each had a goal and assist and senior defender Eric Kingue (Vernon) added his first career point when he assisted on Kadlof's goal and junior defender Christian Hohulin (Plymouth, MA) contributed his first career assist on O'Brien's goal.
 
Senior goalie Dylan Pallanck (Willington) played the first 62 minutes and made four saves for his 19^th career win. Junior Nathan Yeich (Willington) finished up with the final 28 scoreless minutes, making two saves.
 
Eastern closes out the regular season with two home games and two road contests. After visiting Wesleyan University Tuesday, Eastern hosts the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in a Little East match next Saturday. The Warriors host Massachusetts College in a makeup game Oct. 24, then visit the University of Massachusetts Boston Oct. 28 in the LEC regular-season finale. UMass Dartmouth is winless (0-5-1) in the LEC while UMass Boston (4-1-1) shares second place with Western Connecticut. UMass Boston eliminated Eastern in last year's LEC semifinals, 4-3 in overtime. The Beacons tied the match with six minutes left in regulation, and after the Warriors took a 3-2 lead early in overtime, UMass scored twice seven minutes apart to advance to the final.