Box Score
DANBURY – A year ago, Eastern Connecticut State University and Western Connecticut State University met in what appeared to some to be a showdown between Little East Conference women's lacrosse teams with perfect 5-0 records.

That battle never materialized, however, as WestConn scored the first seven goals in the first eight minutes and went on to an emphatic 19-8 victory for its 28^th straight LEC regular-season win.
Saturday, less than a year later, that battle did materialize to a greater extent as WestConn (9-1, 2-0 LEC) needed a big second half to pull away from an 8-6 halftime lead and post a 14-9 victory for its 31^st straight LEC regular-season win over seven seasons.

Having lost its previous five games against WestConn by an average of 13 goals, Eastern (7-2, 0-1 LEC) drew a step closer, on Saturday, to catching the Wolves , who last lost an LEC regular-season game on April 20, 2019 at the University of Southern Maine, 21-18.

In a cage confrontation which featured graduate student Molly Bresnahan of WestConn and Eastern first-year goalie Maizie Rukat (Manchester, VT), the second-team All-LEC netminder won out, although she needed 15 saves off 33 Eastern shots while Rukat needed only 11 saves off the Wolves' 34 shots.

In contrast to a year ago when the Warriors needed 12 minutes to get one past Bresnahan for the first time, Eastern got out quickly Saturday by scoring the first two goals a minute apart by newcomers Hannah Seltzer (Westerly, RI), a first-year attack, and graduate midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford).

Following Eastern's two quick goals, the game was tied four times and neither side led by more than one until the hosts ran off four straight goals – the final one of the first half that gave them a two-goal lead – and the first three of the second half that pushed the WestConn lead to five, 11-6 midway through the quarter.

With the Wolves' seven-goal lead enough to secure their win, Selzer and LeBeau repeated their early two goals with their 12^th and 21^st of the season, respectively in the final five minutes to close out the game.

Junior attack Alexa Vizzini (Vernon, NJ), Eastern's most dangerous offensive threat and its leading scorer (30-10-40) was limited two a goal and two assists, while second-leading scorer Abby Parisi (Fairfield) had three goals, as did LeBeau, with Seltzer finishing with two.

Behind LeBeau (5), Parisi (3) and  graduate attack Kaylee Drobish (Wallingford) (2), the Warriors won the draw war, 14-12. However, holding a lopsided advantage in free-position attempts (9-1), Eastern was able to cash in only three times (Parisi twice and LeBeau once).

Ranked second in the LEC pre-season poll after sharing second place a year ago with a 5-2 regular-season record, Eastern hosts Westfield State University Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a non-conference match before closing out the regular season with seven straight LEC matches (four at home) beginning Saturday against VTSU Castleton at 1 p.m. at Rick McCarthy Field.

The contest against Westfield (3-7) will be the fourth in the all-time series but first since the Owls won, 14-9, in 2015 for their third win in the series without a loss. Westfield is coming off Friday's 17-3 home win over Massachusetts Maritime Academy.