PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team equalled its season-high of 19 shots, but managed to put only five of them on goal and Rhode Island College scored the only goal of the match with 2:52 remaining in a Little East Conference match Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
Freshman forward Cody Granville scored his third goal of the season on assists from Jonathan Oliveira and Donavan Battle as Rhode Island (5-2-2, 1-1-1 LEC) defeated Eastern (2-4-1, 1-2-0 LEC) by a 1-0 score for the fourth time in the last nine years, but for the first time on its home field.
One of Eastern's best chances to go ahead came with 15 minutes left, when
first-year midfielder
Reid Dowling (East Lyme) received a perfect cross and put it on goal from point blank range, but his bid was stopped by junior goalkeeper Jake Reed, who made one of his five saves.
For RIC, which won its first match in the last five (1-2-2) after opening with four non-conference wins, Oliveira had another scoring chance in the 81
st minute as his shot ran across the goal line, but never crossed it.
As the match headed into the final minutes and appeared headed for the first tie between the teams since 2010 (when the teams tied twice), Oliveira took a breakout pass from freshman midfielder Donovan Battle, dribbled around multiple defenders and put up a magnificent crossing pass to Granville, who headed it into the goal for what proved to be the game-winning strike.
It was RIC's first win over Eastern after three straight losses over the last two years.
Eastern senior goalkeeper
Dylan Pallanck (Willington, Conn.) made three saves in the loss, while Reed recorded his first shutout of the year.
Eastern hosts VTSU Castleton Saturday at 1 p.m. in a conference match.
