Box Score
DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team capitalized with four extra-man goals on free-position shots in the second quarter after the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was tagged with five green and one yellow cards in a span of less than four minutes and went on to a 21-8 victory in the Little East Conference opener for both clubs Friday night at Cressy Field.
 
Leading 6-5 two minutes into the second quarter, Eastern (4-4) ran off seven straight goals, holding UMass Dartmouth (5-3) off the board for 13 minutes to move out to a 13-5 lead when senior attack Jessie Pyrek-Bennett (Monroe) connected on the 100^th goal of her career with 2:41 left in the first half that gave the Warriors that eight-goal bulge.
 
The Warriors' four man-up goals came in succession in a span of less than four minutes and expanded a 7-5 lead to 11-5 with 5:12 left in the first half. Senior Abby Parisi (Fairfield) was credited with the first man-up, free-position goal in that stretch to make it 8-5 with 8:42 left after winning a ground ball, with sophomore Sydney Goyette (Westfield, MA) making it 9-5 on a ground ball by senior Chloe Miller (Avon), junior Claire Riccitelli-Pestana (Wallingford) connecting after a UMD timeout to make it 10-5 with 5:28 left, and senior Kaylee Drobish (Wallingford) closing out the run 15 seconds later that upped the lead to 11-5.
 
Pyrek-Bennett's milestone goal – her third of the game on her third shot – was set up when sophomore Alexa Coty (Old Saybrook) won a ground ball and Drobish fed Pyrek-Bennett for the teams' seventh straight goal in a span of roughly seven minutes. Pyrek-Bennett, who entered the match ranked in a tie for 13^th all-time in assists (41) and tied for 19^th all-time in points (138), scored her 98^th career goal to give Eastern the lead for good, 5-4, with 48 seconds left in the first quarter, and collected her 99^th goal 46 seconds into the second quarter, making it 6-4.
 
Eastern built its seven-goal halftime lead by dominating the first half. The Warriors won the ground ball battle, 17-9, over the first 30 minutes, forced 15 turnovers with seven caused turnovers, were successful on all 11 of their clears, and converted 13 of their 18 shots into goals.
 
Goyette led Eastern with a career-high six goals (on seven shots) and career-high eight points, with Pyrek-Bennett and Drobish each contributing four and Parisi three goals and two assists. Drobish's three assists give her 39 in her career and move her into 15^th place all-time and her seven points leave her four shy of 100. Pyrek-Bennett's four goals improve her career total to 101, three shy of breaking into the all-time Top 20.
 
The Warriors played the game without top scorer Alexa Vizzini (Vernon, NJ), a first-team All-LEC pick a year ago as a first-year player.
 
It marked the third time in their four wins this year that the Warriors have scored at least 20 goals.
 
Senior goalie Mackenzie Brown (Southington) stopped six shots and departed after three quarters with Eastern leading, 17-7. First-year goalie Savannah Goodness (New Fairfield) closed it out be making one save over the final 15 minutes.
 
First-year players Sophia Ramino (Haddam-Killingworth) and Grace Saldaña (Colchester) each had six ground balls, with Parisi causing three turnovers and Riccitelli-Pestana two.
 
With the help of 13 caused turnovers (one shy of its season-best), Eastern forced 27 UMD turnovers. Eastern was successful on 20 of 22 clears and outscored the Corsairs on free-position shots, 9-2. The Warriors entered play having converted 54 percent of their free-position attempts but were 9-of-13 (69 percent), including 6-of-9 in the second quarter.
 
The Warriors won easily despite losing the draw control battle, 19-13, with Drobish, the team-leader in that category, claiming eight to move to within four of 100 in her career.  First-year player Jenna Mahoney (North Reading, MA) won three draws and Parisi two.
 
Eastern won for the first time in four matches, while UMass had a four-game win streak ended in losing to Eastern for the eighth straight time and for the 22^nd time in the last 23 meetings with the Warriors, who own a 29-4 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1998.

Eastern visits Montclair State University (4-2) in a non-conference match Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Red Hawks are coming off Wednesday's 18-9 win at Misericordia University. The Warriors lead the series, 3-1, having won the last two by one goal each, including last year's 13-12 victory at Rick McCarthy Field.