GORHAM, Maine – With all four Little East Conference major award-winners back from last year's first-ever conference championship team, the University of Southern Maine women's soccer team is doing similar things this year as it did a year ago.
 
One of those similarities is beating Eastern Connecticut State University by a 1-0 score in the regular-season encounter between the programs.
 
In the LEC opener for both squads Friday afternoon at Hannaford Field, Southern Maine (5-0-1) made a goal by sophomore Riley Reitchel midway through the second half stand up behind the 16^th career shutout from senior Breanna Atwood – last year's LEC Goalkeeper-of-the-Year – in sending the Warriors (1-3-0) to their third loss of the year – all by scores of 1-0.
 
Eastern remains winless (0-3-0) on the road this year, with a 4-0 shutout of Fitchburg State University in its home-opener nine days ago at Rick McCarthy Field providing it with its one victory.
 
Eastern limited the Huskies to three corner kicks in the game but the hosts converted their second try in the 64^th minute that kept USM unbeaten (4-0-0) at home this year.
 
Making her second start of the year, senior Emily Wallace (Smithtown, NY) kept Eastern within striking distance with a season-high ten saves – one shy of her career-high. With Wallace, Eastern withstood a barrage of six USM shots in the first ten minutes of the second half that kept the game scoreless to that point before the 5-foot-5 inch Reitchel scored her third goal of the year at the far post off a corner kick by junior Julia McKenna, the team scoring leader who was last year's LEC Rookie-of-the-Year.
 
The hosts outshot Eastern, 18-10, including 15-4 in the second half, when Wallace made seven of her saves. Atwood needed only three saves to record her first full shutout of the year and lower her goals-against average to 0.71.
 
Eastern leads the all-time series with USM by a wide margin (31-6-3) but has been shut out each of the last three years and is winless (0-3-1) the last four times the teams have met after posting seven straight shutouts and 20 consecutive triumphs over the Huskies dating back to 2000.
 
Eastern visits the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Monday at 6 p.m. in a non-conference match before returning from a four-game road trip to host Westfield State University Wednesday at 6 p.m. in non-conference action.