MANSFIELD, Conn. - Senior defender
Noah Page netted a first-half penalty goal for Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Soccer, but three unanswered goals in the second half by the WestConn offense sank the Warriors, 3-1, at Rick McCarthy Field on Wednesday afternoon, as the Warriors have now dropped back-to-back conference matches after winning the first two.
It was a tale of two halves for Eastern, who seemed to have the momentum early on in the affair as they forced first-year goalkeeper Aime Ruggles to make a trio of saves in the opening 15 minutes, after first-year forward
Cameron Zingle missed just wide of the net in the opening few minutes of play in the scoreless affair. That early momentum for the Warriors also stemmed from junior goalkeeper
Jack Harmon in the 10th minute, as he came up with a big save on a penalty kick from junior forward Chance Campbell.
After both sides settled in for a bit, it was in the 31st minute when Eastern struck after senior forward
Patricio Vidales was fouled in the box by Ruggles, who was pursuing the ball inside the box, leading to the only goal of the match for the Warriors on the penalty kick by Page, which beat Ruggles to his right. Several chances would come about in the closing minutes of the first half for the Wolves offense as sophomore midfielder Jokin Martinez missed just wide left in transition, as did senior defender Aidan Roxo, just two minutes apart.
Harmon, who closed the first half with two saves, made another fantastic play diving to his left with 3:30 to go, giving the home team a 1-0 lead at the break, after a half in which Eastern held an 8-6 edge in shots overall and a 4-2 lead in shots on goal. Right out of the gate in the second half, the WestConn offense continued to test Harmon. This time senior midfielder Jeffrey Norales had two shots in the span of five seconds stopped by the junior, who fell to his knees while making the second stop.
But just mere moments later on the corner kick, a quick pass around from Norales led to a chip-in off Campbell's head that nearly went wide of the goal before senior defender Enzo LaGrassa-Gilet redirected it at the last minute, tying the match at one all in the 57th minute. The chances continued to come for the Wolves, who outshot Eastern by an 11-3 margin in the second half, as Page helped out Harmon in net, redirecting a shot out of harm's way from junior midfielder Nickolas Santana.
However, the 71st minute would be where the Wolves took their first lead of the match off the foot of Santana, as the junior finished off his shot in front with the help of sophomore midfielder Juan Gomez Herrera and first-year midfielder Rodrigo Lancho, making it a 2-1 match. While Eastern would get a few solid rushes in hopes of escaping with at least a point, the defense of WestConn held them to only two shots on goal, both of which were stopped by Ruggles.
WestConn would add to their lead in the closing moments of the match, as senior midfielder Lucas Fernandez and first-year defender Bamfa Fofana teamed up to assist on sophomore forward Esteban Tabares' goal, as the Wolves down Eastern, 3-1, for their fifth consecutive win in the all-time series. Harmon finished the match with eight saves on 11 shots for the Warriors, while Ruggles closed with five for WestConn.
Conference play rolls on for Eastern on Saturday as they head on the road to face UMass Dartmouth at 12:00 PM. The Warriors are 6-0-2 in their last eight matches against the Corsairs, last losing to them in 2017, 1-0, on the road. In the last matchup, both teams went the distance in the LEC Tournament Quarterfinals, where UMass Dartmouth advanced, 4-3, on penalty kicks.
