MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team withstood 21 Fisher College shots as first-year goalkeeper Jack Harmon (Manasquan, NJ) made a career-high eight saves

in posting his first collegiate full shutout in the Warriors' 2-0 non-conference victory Tuesday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.

The win is the fourth in the last five matches and and fourth in five home matches this year for Eastern (6-3-0), which got goals from junior midfielder Sebastian Kadlof (Clinton) midway through the first half and withstood a Fisher (5-3-1) onslaught in the second half before  sophomore forward Eliot Melgar (New York, NY) provided an insurance goal by cleanly  sending a penalty kick into the upper part of the net with 6:32 left. 

It appeared that Eastern might post its fourth one-goal win in the four-game series before the Warriors were awarded the penalty kick after first-year midfielder Miguel Garcia (Willimantic) was taken down on a semi-breakaway by Fisher sophomore goalkeeper Edoardo Berini. Melgar's PK was his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Fisher entered the match riding a five-match unbeaten (4-0-1) streak and averaging over four goals a game. The Eastern defense, led by Harmon and starting defenders -- three of them seniors -- Lex Edwards (Milford), Caiden Hettrick-Rivera (Portland), Anton Smith (Plymouth, NH) and John Bennett (Woodstock),  was able to contain Fisher high-scoring forwards Leonardo Di Biase and Santiago Blancuzzi. Allowing an average of just 1.4 goals per match (three of the 11 goals allowed coming in Saturday's shutout home loss to Trinity College), Eastern kept the Fisher duo without a goal despite their combined total of 12 shots. Di Biase and Blancuzzi combined to put six of the Falcons' eight shots on goal, but could not get one past Harmon, who left his feet on the majority of his rejections to become only the second keeper this year to shut out the Falcons. Harmon lowered his goals-against average to 1.37 from 1.58 and raised his save percentage from .714 to .767.

Kadlof, who leads the team with seven assists (three coming in a 3-0 win at Clark University six days ago) recorded his third goal of the season with 20 minutes left in the first half off a scramble in the box which followed an Eastern free kick from the left side.

The six-foot Harmon kept the 1-0 lead intact at the half -- despite Eastern being outshot 13-2 -- by diving to his right with just under two minutes left before the break to snuff out the freshman Blancuzzi's bid -- his fifth and final save of the half. Earlier in the half, just two minutes after Kadlof's go-ahead goal -- Harmon made the play of the game when he timed his lead perfectly to tip Blancuzzi's rising blast from the top of the circle over the cross bar. The loss was the first this year after three wins and a tie for Fisher GK Berini, who carried a 0.73 goals-against average into play.

Hoping to preserve its one-goal lead late in the game, Eastern packed its defensive box and warded off several Fisher challenges. On a dangerous Fisher free kick from near the corner flag, Harmon came off his line to punch the ball out of danger; midway through the half, Blancuzzi threatened again when he collected a deflected ball and  quickly left-footed it at goal, with Harmon diving to his right to preserve Eastern's one-goal lead. Five minutes later, Harmon again hustled of his line and drove to stop Blancuzzi's bid from the left side; Harmon's final save came with four minutes left and Eastern leading by two when he again hit the ground to gather Di Biase's bid.

Eastern's depth played a role in the victory, with six players coming off the bench to log 142 minutes (23.7 minutes per player) while Fisher got help from only four bench players who combined to play 98 minutes.

While Eastern holds a +9 advantage in corner kicks this year, the Warriors were denied one for the second straight match and have been out-cornered 12-1 over their last three contests.

Eastern looks for its third Little East Conference victory without a loss when it travels to Arold Field to face Plymouth State University (3-6-1, 1-1-1 LEC) Saturday at 1 p.m. The Warriors have won five straight against the Panthers to tie the all-time series at 23-23-3.Plymouth is coming off a 2-0 road loss against University of New England Tuesday night.