Box Score
MANSFIELD, Conn. – Returning home for the first time in two weeks, the Eastern Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team allowed Kean University to score consecutive goals only once – in the first five minutes of the match – in posting a 19-9 non-conference victory Wednesday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.

Leading by three goals at halftime, Eastern (7-1) limited Kean (1-5) to one goal over the first 20 minutes of the second half and to just three after the break in improving to 3-0 at home in its final non-conference match before entering into Little East Conference play Saturday.

The win is Eastern's first in the four-game series between the teams, with the Cougars coming away with an 11-7 victory a year ago at Alumni Stadium in Eastern's first game under head coach Devyne Doran '17. In that game, the hosts snapped a tie by outscoring the Warriors 6-2 over the final  31 minutes.

On Wednesday, Eastern took over the momentum for good at the outset of the second half by scoring three times in four minutes on consecutive short-handed goals 11 seconds apart and an extra-man strike minutes later that pushed a three-goal half-time lead to six, 12-6, with 25 minutes left in the match.

After junior Sydney Goyette (Westfield, MA) scored a  man-down goal on an assist from senior Abby Parisi (Fairfield) on the first shot of the second half that made it 10-6, Parisi won the ensuing draw and planted a free-position goal  seconds later that made it a five-goal margin. Parisi again won the draw and a minute after a Kean yellow card gave Eastern the man-advantage, junior Alexa Vizzini (Vernon, NJ) recorded her team-tying fourth extra-man goal of the season to make it 12-6.

First-year graduate transfer attack Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford) helped Eastern to a +13 advantage in draw controls by winning an Eastern-high 13. In four years at Wheaton College, LeBeau won 231 draws, with 141 coming last year – the 14^th-best mark in Division III.

A returning first-team All-Little East Conference attack, Vizzini equalled her season-high with six goals on 11 shots. Goyette had four goals and two assists and Parisi three goals, two assists and six draws, with graduate midfielder Kaylee Drobish (Wallingford) adding two goals, two assists, two ground balls and two draws.

Eastern trailed only once in the match and broke the third and final tie on Drobish's 12^th goal of the season on an assist from Goyette in the final minutes of the first quarter. That marker sparked a decisive 6-2 scoring run over 12 minutes that allowed the Warriors to seize the momentum and a 9-5 lead with four minutes left in the half. Parisi and Drobish each contributed two goals and an assist in that run and Goyette two assists.
In addition to a 22-9 advantage in draws, Eastern had a +10 advantage in shots.

First-year goalie Maizie Rukat (Manchester, VT) made ten saves to up her record to 6-1 and raise her save percentage to .424.

Eastern opens Little East play Saturday at 2024 regular-season champion Western Connecticut State University (8-1, 1-0 LEC) at the Westside Athletic Complex at 1 p.m.. The Wolves defeated the University of Southern Maine, 14-4 on the road in their LEC opener last Saturday and bring an overall a three-game winning streak into action.

The Warriors were ranked second in the LEC pre-season poll after sharing second place in last year's conference standings. Western  was ranked third, a point behind Eastern. The top-seeded Wolves were eliminated in last year's LEC semifinals after winning all seven of their LEC regular-season games.

Eastern holds a 22-8 advantage in the all-time series with Western but the Wolves have won the last five meetings by an average of over 13 goals.