Box Score
DARTMOUTH, Mass. — In a dominant road showing, the Warriors delivered a four-goal standout, led by a two-assist, one-goal performance from first-year forward Michaela Gasparri (Prospect) over the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs.
Sophomore Katie Guerin (Thomaston) and junior
Emily Dunlea (Attleboro, MA) tallied their f
irst goals of the season -- second of their careers -- while first-year midfielder
Gisella Hayes (Farmington) notched her second of the season, a
late strike from UMass Dartmouth's Natalie Frazier brought the Corsairs on the board, but the Warriors' relentless offensive push closed out the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at the buzzer, claiming a 4-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Cressy Field.
With its win and Western Connecticut's (8-5-2, 3-1-1 LEC) road tie with the University of Southern Maine, Eastern moved into a tie atop the LEC standings with the Wolves, who have played one more game to reach ten points. The teams clash in 11 days at Rick McCarthy Field.
Game Information:
- Score: Eastern Connecticut State University 4, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 1
- Records: Eastern (7-3-2) (LEC 3-0-1) UMass Dartmouth (4-6-3) (LEC 1-3-1)
- Location: Dartmouth, MA (Cressy Field)
Key Moments:
- In just the sixth minute of play, the Warriors capitalized on a free kick from the 18. Gasparri favored the edge of the box for a pass that ended up on the boot of Dunlea, who delivered a right-footed strike into the left side of the net to give Eastern a one-nil lead.
- Eastern added insurance in the 34th minute. Off a corner from Jordan Fabry (Lisbon), UMass Dartmouth's attempted clearance fell perfectly to the lap of Hayes, just inside the box. Hayes capitalized, driving a line shot past the keeper and into the net, doubling the lead.
- The Warriors sealed the match in the 41st minute when Katelyn Herbert (Bethpage, NY) sent a long ball into the attacking third. Gasparri tracked it down, drew the goalkeeper off her line, and slipped a short pass to Guerin, who finished into the open zone, ending the half 3-0, Eastern.
- Off a critical defensive turnover, UMass Dartmouth freshman Natalie Frazier capitalized with a long strike from just inside the 18, sending her LEC-leading tenth goal high into the net to put the Corsairs on board in the 54th minute of play.
- In the 76th minute, Gasparri capped the afternoon with her eighth goal of the season (tied for third-most in the LEC), converting a setup from Hayes in the box, through the Corsairs' last line of defense to close out the 4-1 visitors' victory.
Scoring Summary:
Game Notes:
- Eastern defeated UMass Dartmouth, securing a 4-1 conference victory.
- UMass Dartmouth outshot Eastern, taking 23 (13 on goal), and Eastern finished with 20, with nine on goal.
- Corner kicks favored Eastern, 6-1.
- Sophomore GK Alex Ignatowicz (Coventry), last year's LEC Goalkeeper-of-the-Year as a freshman, made a career-high 12 saves (second-most in a match in the LEC this year), eight coming when the hosts unleashed 15 shots in the second half. Ignatowicz upped her save percentage to .800 and lowered her goals-against average to 1.34 (third in the LEC) in 674 minutes.
- Eastern committed 12 fouls, while UMass Dartmouth committed five throughout the match.
- No cautions were issued during the match.
- Since losing the first five and six of the first seven matches to UMD in the all-time series, Eastern has not lost, going 27-0-3 since 1996. The Warriors scored four goals against UMD for the second straight year, winning 4-0 at home in 2024.
Up Next:
On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Eastern visits Worcester State University for its final non-conference match-up of the season before ending the regular season with four LEC matches.
