MANSFIELD, Conn. -- First-year forward
Emily McKelvey retook the Little East Conference lead in goals scored, pocketing two against UMass Dartmouth at Rick McCarthy Field on Saturday, helping Eastern Connecticut State University Women's Soccer to a 4-1 victory on Senior Day, as they remain unbeaten in LEC play this year at 4-0-1. McKelvey currently leads Southern Maine's Lexi Morin by two goals for the conference lead, while playing only 11 matches compared to 13 matches for the Huskies' forward.
With both of McKelvey's second-half goals, her 11 goals on the year put her just two away from breaking into the top-ten most goals scored in a single season in program history, as Jen Ferrari (2001), Jenn Orme (2005), and Taylor Buchanan (2010) are all tied with 13 single-season goals in tenth. Lisa Matukaitis currently holds the program record for goals in a single season with 23 during the 1992 campaign, while also being second with her 22 goals in 1988.
Sophomore forward Kiariana Williams recorded the lone goal of the match for the Corsairs, as a corner kick from sophomore defender Emilie Trainque grazed the head of senior forward Madison Depina and then Williams redirected it over senior goalkeeper
Kaeden Dublin's head for the goal in the 71st minute, cutting the UMass Dartmouth deficit to one, 2-1. With that goal, it made McKelvey's goal, the second of the match for Eastern, the game-winning goal, as she leads the conference with four game-winning goals this year, ahead of Morin's three.
In the first half alone, Eastern held a 12-0 edge in shots, forcing junior goalkeeper Emma Juelis to make six saves in the process, while junior defender
Jordan Fabry scored her second goal in the last two weeks, a corner kick that took an arc over the head of Juelis and into the back of the net for her third goal of the year. Meanwhile, on the other end, junior goalkeeper
Alex Ignatowicz faced no shots on goal in 58:50 of action, before Dublin played the final 31:10 of the match, stopping two shots and allowing that one goal to Williams.
After allowing that second goal, the Eastern offense went back to work as another corner kick for Fabry in the 82nd minute, one of seven on the day for the Warriors, made way for sophomore forward
Michaela Gasparri's header goal in front of Juelis to pad the lead. Mere moments later, on a turnover in the defensive zone, senior midfielder
Emily Dunlea deflected a ball over to Gasparri, who found McKelvey again with a one-on-one matchup leading to the fourth and final goal of the affair for the Warriors, who took the 4-1 victory.
For Eastern offensively, it was the fifth time this season in which they have registered four-plus goals in a match, while being the tenth time in eleven matches in which they have not allowed more than a goal in a match. The one outlier to that was against Westfield State University way back on September 16th when the defense allowed two goals in a 2-1 loss to the Owls, making it now six consecutive matches allowing a goal or fewer.
Playing their final non-conference match of the season, Eastern will take on Worcester State University at Rick McCarthy Field next Wednesday at 6:00 PM. The Warriors are 5-2-0 in the all-time series against the Lancers, defeating them last season on the road, 2-0, to avenge a 1-0 loss from the 2024 season at home.
