Box Score
MANSFIELD, Conn. — Led by timely goals from
Jordan Fabry (Lisbon) and
Michaela Gasparri (Prospect), Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer topped the University of Massachusetts Boston, claiming a 2-0 Little East Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field that kept the Warriors as the lone unbeaten in the LEC.
Gasparri tallied her tenth goal of the season, Jordan Fabry (both are first-year players) the first of her career. Goalkeeper
Alex Ignatowicz (Coventry), last year's LEC Goalkeeper-of-the-Year as a first-year player,
earned her second LEC shutout of the season, helping the Warriors secure their fourth consecutive conference win, the program's first streak of this length since 2017.
Game Information:
- Score: Eastern Connecticut State University 2, University of Massachusetts Boston 0
- Records: Eastern (9-3-2) (LEC 4-0-1) UMass Boston (5-7-3) (LEC 1-3-1)
- Location: Mansfield, Conn. (Rick McCarthy Field)
Key Moments:
- In the seventh minute, off an Eastern corner kick, Fabry sent a long ball into the box. Amid a cluster of Eastern jerseys, the ball found the head of forward graduate student Katelyn Herbert (Bethpage, NY), whose header led to a blocked shot that ricocheted back to Fabry. She finished with a left-footed strike into the right corner of the net, sneaking past the goalkeeper, breaking the scoring silence for an early 1-0 lead.
- In the 28th minute, Gasparri received a quick assist from junior Arianna Tomassi (Guilford) and sophomore Faith Corona (Durham). Gasparri collected the ball inside the eighteen and made quick work of the Beacon defense, firing a powerful strike into the net for Eastern's insurance goal, extending the lead to 2-0, which held for the remainder of the match. The assist was the first in the career of Corona and second in the career of Tomassi.
- Junior midfielder Emily Dunlea (Attleboro, MA) submitted sterling 90-minute defensive coverage on UMB scoring leader Sofia Schallmo, limiting her touches and effectively keeping her off the board. Two of Schallmo's shots were on goal, however, forcing Ignatowicz to make superb saves to preserve the shutoug. On the first, Schallmo nearly gave her team a 1-0 lead just five minutes into play, but Ignatowicz timed her lap perfectly and tipped her long, hard drive over the crossbar. With the Warriors in control of a late two-goal lead, Schallmo ripped a hard, low left-footer through traffic toward the left post that Ignatowicz dove full-length to her right to knock the ball wide with 18 minutes left.
- With Eastern leading 2-0, Schallmo's corner kick with nine minutes left in the first half found the head of Amanda Regan (team-high five shots), whose shot from close range (fortunately for Eastern) went directly at the keeper. (Regan's only shot that reached goal)
- The Warriors had three golden scoring chances to expand their two-goal halftime lead but were off-target on each: Gasparri stole the ball two minutes into the half but sent her open 25-yarder over the top; first-year player Gisella Hayes (Farmington) sent her bicycle kick over the crossbar midway through the half, and sophomore Elise Leccesse (Amston) did likewise with her one-timer off a corner seconds later.
Scoring Summary:
Game Notes:
- Eastern defeated UMass Boston, securing a 2-0 conference victory. The Beacons were 5-1-1 against Eastern in the previous seven meetings.
- UMass Boston outshot Eastern, taking 19 (six on goal), and Eastern finished with 12, with six on goal.
- Corner kicks favored Eastern, 7-3.
- Goalkeeper saves totaled six for Eastern and four for UMass Boston.
- Jordan Fabry opened the scoring for Eastern Connecticut State at 7:37 off a ricochet from a blocked shot, before Michaela Gasparri added her tenth goal of the season at 28:31, assisted by Arianna Tomassi and Faith Corona.
- Eastern committed 14 fouls, while UMass Boston committed three throughout the match.
- No cards were issued during the match.
- With the win, Eastern exceeded its LEC win total of a year ago, by one. This year's four LEC wins equal the combined total of 2023 and 2024.
- The Warriors were last unbeaten after five LEC matches in 2017, when they completed an unbeaten season (6-0-1) and lost to WestConn, 2-1 in overtime, in the LEC playoff finals.
- Gasparri became the first player since Aly Clark in 2018 to reach double figures in goals in a season. Since Clarke, Eastern's highest individual total was produced by Herbert in 2024, with seven.
- Eastern had at least one player with at least ten goals for five straight years from 2014 through 2018 and in 11 of 12 seasons between 2007 through 2018.
- Gasparri stands 12 goals shy of All-America and Alumnni Hall of Famer Lisa Matukaitis's rookie season record of 22, set in 1988. With 72 goals in four years, Matukaitis is far-and-away the program's all-time goal leader. Matukaitis' 23 goals as a senior in 1992 are the season record. She has the top three season marks of 23, 22 and 16.
- The Warriors' 28 goals in 14 matches are just two behind the 2024 total, set in 18 games.
Up Next:
Eastern Connecticut State University women's soccer will host Western Connecticut State University (10-5-2, 4-1-1 LEC) for a Little East Conference match-up on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. EST. The Wolves and Warriors both have 13 points but WestConn has played one additional match. WestConn reached last year's LEC final, losing at the University of Southern Maine in the title game (3-0) for the second time in the last three years. Since winning, 1-0, at WestConn in 2015, Eastern is 0-8-2 vs. the Wolves, having lost seven straight (five by one goal). The Warriors have sustained 1-0 losses to WestConn each of the last two seasons. The Wolves are 4-1-1 in their last six matches and 3-2-2 on the road. The Warriors are 5-1-0 in their last six and 4-0-1 at home.
