Box Score
MANSFIELD, Conn. – Fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth converted all four of its penalty kicks as the Corsairs advanced through the first round of the Little East Conference men's soccer playoffs after playing fourth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University to a scoreless draw through 90 regulation minutes and 20 minutes of overtime Saturday afternoon/evening at Rick McCarthy Field.
UMass (7-8-4) faces top-seeded host Western Connecticut State University in the semifinal round Wednesday at 6 p.m. after tying Eastern for the first time in the LEC playoffs following four losses in the previous four LEC playoff meetings. Eastern concludes it season at 8-7-2, 0-3-2 in its final five matches.
Eastern outshot UMass Dartmouth, 21-11, but couldn't convert three prime chances in overtime – sending one shot wide left, another over the crossbar and a third directly at senior keeper Ethan Donahue – as it did not advance beyond the first round of the LEC playoffs (in years in which it qualified) for the first time in 24 years. The Warriors concluded their home season with only two losses in nine contests (5-2-2 record. On the road this year, the Corsairs (0-1-3 in their last four matches) earned their second tie against one win and seven losses.
With Eastern shooting first, each team connected on each of its first three penalty kicks. After Donahue stopped the Warriors' fourth try with a save of a shot directly at him, senior defender Nick Mahjoory gave UMD a 4-3 lead with a drive into the upper right part of the net. Needing a goal to extend the PK session, Eastern hit the crossbar on its fifth possession – the ball dropping straight down – igniting the Corsairs celebration.
The last of Eastern's 21 shots (as opposed to UMD's 11) came with 22.7 seconds left in the second ten-minute overtime period when senior midfielder
Niall O'Brien (Guilford) hammered a free kick at Donahue, who made the last of his nine saves.
Eastern sophomore
Jack Harmon (Manasquan, NJ) and Donahue each made two outstanding saves in the match to keep the game scores. Harmon preserved his third full shutout in his last nine starts with his only save of the first half six minutes (he made five saves on the day) before halftime when he dove to his left to deny UMD sophomore Delano Costa, then dove left to reject Mahjoory's bid 13 minutes into the second half. For his part, Donahue hauled in Eastern senior defender
Lex Edwards's (Milford) header at the right post four minutes into the second half and followed that up a minute later by scooping up O'Brien's left-footed volley.
Eastern threated to take a first-half lead (the Warriors outshot UMD, 8-2, in the first half) but couldn't convert on first-year forward
Ben Syphrett's (Ledyard) header less than a minute into the match and junior midfielder
Reid Dowling's (East Lyme) drive that bounced off the right post and out of bounds. Defensively, senior defender
Caiden Hettrick-Rivera (Portland) prevented the Corsairs from breaking through midway through the first half when he cleared a loose ball off the back line following a UMD corner kick.
The teams played to a scoreless draw for the second straight season on Eastern's home field – the only two scoreless draws in the 62-match series. For UMD, the Corsairs gained redemption after losing by a score of 2-1 at McCarthy Field on Oct. 11 on Hettrick-Rivera's tie-breaking goal with 17 minutes left in the match.
PENALTY-KICK SHOOTOUT
Eastern UMass Dartmouth Score
Eliot Melgar – Good Mario Rodriguez – Good 1-1
Niall O'Brien – Good Derrick Camara – Good 2-2
Sebastian Kadlof – Good Nick Scanlon – Good 3-3
Caiden Hettrick-Rivera – Failed (GK save) Nick Mahjoory – Good 3-4
Lex Edwards – Failed (hit crossbar) --
