Eastern Connecticut State University

MANSFIELD, Conn. -- First-year goalkeeper Bryant Amaral stopped four shots in goal for Plymouth State University, as Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Soccer saw their six-match unbeaten streak come to an end at Rick McCarthy Field on Saturday afternoon in a 1-0 loss to the Panthers. It was the first time since 2006 that Plymouth State had beaten the Warriors on the road, as well as the first time overall since the 2017 season in which they came out on top against them.

After a first half defined mostly by back-and-forth play in the neutral zone, junior goalkeeper Jack Harmon and Amaral both only needed to make one save in their nets, with that one shot for Harmon being a save on first-year midfielder Anderson Perez Ramos' shot from 30-40 yards out. Despite holding an 8-1 lead in corner kicks, Eastern manufactured just three shots overall, and that one shot on goal was corralled by Amaral, leading to a scoreless match at the break. 

Senior midfielder Sebastian Kadlof nearly put the Warriors ahead in the 64th minute, as a service into him put him in no man's land with nothing but the net in front of him. Kadlof would end up pushing the header attempt just off the crossbar, and it ricocheted out of harm's way to keep the match scoreless. However, only two minutes later, Harmon, who entered the match as the lone Division III goalkeeper without a goal allowed this year, allowed his first goal of the season to Perez Ramos. 

On a rush down the field, junior midfielder George Bergin hit sophomore forward Luke McLaughlin with a pass, and McLaughlin fired towards the net. Harmon would go to his knees and look to bring the ball to his chest before it took a skip over his arm and found the foot of Perez Ramos for the tap-in. The goal snapped a stretch of 722:57 across nine-plus matches since last season in which the junior had not allowed a goal, as he finished the match with two saves and was handed his first defeat of the campaign.

But even trailing by one, the chances continued to come for Eastern as first-year forward Colin Marshall had a chance with 25 minutes remaining, followed by first-year forward Brad Balgach's header opportunity with under 20 minutes left in the affair. Several transition attempts down the field saw the Warriors unable to complete a couple of passes that were just out of reach of their offensive pieces, but still the opportunities came via the corner kicks. After that goal by Perez Ramos, Eastern took six more corner kicks and saw Amaral make two more saves as time expired on the 1-0 defeat for the Warriors at home. 

Looking to get back in the win column next week, Eastern takes on WestConn in a Wednesday afternoon tilt at Rick McCarthy Field scheduled to kick off at 4:00 PM. The Warriors will look to snap a four-match losing streak against the Wolves dating back to the 2021 Little East Conference Championship Match when they took down their in-state rival at home, 2-1.