MANSFIELD, Conn. -- A hot start for junior midfielder
Faith Corona with two goals in the first 14 minutes, along with a nine-save performance from junior goalkeeper
Alex Ignatowicz, helped Eastern Connecticut State University hold off Union College at Rick McCarthy Field on Wednesday night, 2-1, as the Warriors picked up their first-ever victory over the Garnet Chargers in program history, while moving to 4-0-0 at home and 6-1-0 overall, continuing their best start since 2004.
Off the opening kick, it was Eastern making noise on the offensive end, making the most of some early defensive lapses by the Garnet Chargers, which led to Corona's first goal less than two-and-a-half minutes into the contest. With a pass from sophomore forward
Michaela Gasparri, first-year forward
Alana Burnell and Corona dribbled between each other to get the junior in open space for the strike past senior goalkeeper Maya Koster, opening up the scoring for the Warriors in the early going.
Continuing to mount pressure on the Union defense, first-year defender Maya Atwood would foul Corona inside the box, leading to a penalty kick that she would net past the left side of Koster to give Eastern what would be a much-needed second goal, with the way the rest of the match ended up shaking out. A couple of defensive lapses following that second score from Eastern led to a pair of offensive chances for the Garnet Chargers, as Atwood looked to make up for her mistake in the box, before being denied by Ignatowicz in the 15th minute.
Five minutes later, in the 20th minute, another rush by Union led to an opening for senior forward Taylor Bovardi as junior midfielder Julia Bancheri headed the ball ahead to her. After initially being stopped by Ignatowicz, the ricochet of the ball found Bancheri's foot again, and she rifled it past Ignatowicz for the score, who allowed only her second goal of the season. The junior would be busy in net for most of the night, as she was forced out of the box several times to stop potential rushes from the Union offense, including a stellar save in the 26th minute, shutting down sophomore forward Kayla Coviello on a break.
Eastern's defense also came up with a big stop toward the end of the first half when a few bodies got in front of first-year midfielder Janalyn Weber's shot that screamed towards the net, holding the Warrior lead at 2-1 heading into the break. At the break, Union held an 11-3 edge in shots, while forcing Ignatowicz to make six saves on eight total shots on goal in comparison to no saves for Koster. In fact, Koster would finish the match having made one save and allowing two goals as Eastern only managed three shots on goal and five shots total.
Holding a 7-4 lead in corner kicks at the end of the affair, it was the first time that Eastern had fewer corners than their opponent in a match this year, while also having more corners in a single match than the previous six matches combined in which Warrior opponents had just five total corners. Wednesday's match also marked the first time during the 2026 season in which Eastern was outshot, with the final margin being 18-5 overall and 11-3 on goal.
However, the defense made the stops it needed to for Eastern, with Ignatowicz continuing to dominate between the pipes in the second half. With less than 10 minutes to go in the match, Ignatowicz had to come up with two saves within a 19-second span inside of two minutes to go, including one final attempt from Coviello that, off the kick, looked to be heading toward the top right of the net, before sinking down into the junior's arms to help secure the 2-1 victory. The win marked the first time in program history that the Warriors had defeated Union, as well as scored a goal against them, having entered the day 0-2-0 and never scoring a goal in either of those two matches in the last two seasons.
Continuing a three-match stretch with several big tests, Eastern heads on the road to face SUNY Oneonta on Saturday at 1:00 PM, a team they last played to a tie in 2017, and hold a 1-1-1 record all-time against them, with the one win coming back in 2001. After that, the Warriors return home next Tuesday for a matchup against nationally-ranked University of Hartford at 4:00 PM.
