A combined 12 saves from keepers Kaeden Dublin (above) and Alex Ignatowicz kept the Warriors within striking distance in a 3-2 loss to LEC leader University of Southern Maine Sept. 21 at Rick McCarthy Field. By beating or tying VTSU Castleton Saturday, USM would, unofficially, give the Warriors a first-round LEC playoff match at home Tuesday.
Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. –
The bad news: The Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer team was unable to secure a first-round Little East Conference playoff home match following its fifth 1-0 loss of the season Friday night against the University of Massachusetts Boston in the regular-season finale at James Cotter Field.
The good news: With a little help from its friends on Saturday, Eastern (6-9-2, 3-3-2 LEC) could well earn its first first-round home playoff match after opening road contests each of the last two years.
Friday, the Warriors allowed their first goal against UMass Boston (11-3-5, 6-1-1 LEC) after posting shutouts each of the last two years, with graduate defender Caileigh Sullivan scoring her second goal of the season on a penalty kick midway through the second half as the Beacons nailed down the No. 2 LEC playoff seed – in the process maintaining the possibility of sharing the regular-season title -- and a first-round playoff bye by ending the regular season on a four-game unbeaten (2-0-2) streak.
While Eastern stumbled Friday after posting shutout wins in each of its last three matches behind first-year keeper
Alex Ignatowicz (Coventry), the Warriors could, unofficially, corral the No. 4 tournament seed and earn a first-round tournament home match Tuesday, if two-time LEC playoff champion Southern Maine can run its regular-season unbeaten LEC streak over two seasons to 16 Saturday when it hosts VTSU Castleton at 2 p.m.
Having already clinched the No. 1 playoff seed, Southern Maine (12-2-3, 6-0-1 LEC) would not only earn the regular-season outright championship with a win or tie against Castleton (8-9-1, 3-4-0 LEC) but a USM win or tie would, unofficially, give the Warriors the No. 4 seed, with a final total of 11 points. Castleton enters play Saturday with nine points and, by upsetting USM, would move ahead of Eastern and drop the Warriors into a first-round road contest as the No. 5 seed.
In a match dominated by the defense Friday, Eastern and UMass Boston combined for only 17 shots (four each on net) and four corner kicks.
