MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The unbeaten streak continued for Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Soccer on Friday at Rick McCarthy Field as the Warriors came out on top against Fisher College, 2-0, on Senior Day, behind senior forward
Patricio Vidales' and first-year forward
Brad Balgach's third goals of the season in the shutout victory.
On top of that, the shutout for junior goalkeeper
Jack Harmon marked his eighth clean sheet of the year, ninth consecutive dating back to last season, and earned him his third shutout behind his five-save effort against the Falcons, as he moved to 5-0-0 in net for the Warriors. At six unbeaten matches in a row as a team, it is the longest unbeaten streak since the 2019 season, when from October 12th until the LEC Championship Game, the Warriors took seven consecutive decisions.
It was also the fifth time in as many matchups against Fisher in which Eastern has come out on top, third overall by way of the shutout, and second consecutive matchup decided by two or more goals after the first three meetings were all one-goal decisions. Even more impressive has been the Warrior defense, which recorded its fourth shutout in the last five matches, while making it seven of eight matches in which they have not allowed more than one goal.
As it stands, Eastern has held opponents to 0.75 goals per game, outscoring them by a 17-6 margin following today's victory, despite being outshot 117-92 overall and 51-49 in shots on goal. That was a trend that continued today as well with the Falcons controlling the offensive end of the pitch, 17-11 overall, but being dead even in shots on goal at five all with the Warriors, although they would hold a 13-6 edge in shots in the second half alone.
In the first half, it was Eastern who tended to control the tempo of the match, forcing first-year goalkeeper Fabian Dunn to make just one save, while Harmon had to make two as the Warriors held a slim 5-4 lead in shots. However, they would break through against Dunn in the 17th minute as senior defender
Felipe Pereira flipped the ball into the offensive end for Balgach, who crossed it over to Vidales for the one-timer by Dunn, giving Eastern the lead, 1-0.
That score would hold heading into the second half despite a myriad of chances produced by Fisher that continuously went just high or wide of the goal. That trend continued into the second half as Harmon needed to make three more saves, while junior goalkeeper Edoardo Berini started in net for the final 45 minutes for the Falcons, in which he allowed a huge insurance goal to the Warriors. After applying pressure for much of the second half, including back-to-back blocked shots by the defense in the 84th minute followed by a wide shot from senior defender Alessandro Bisesti, Eastern got the goal they needed.
Coming from Balgach in the 87th minute, another rush up the field from first-year forward
Colin Marshall placed the ball ahead to senior midfielder
Nico Matteucci in transition. Running up the left side, Matteucci located Balgach with the pass on the right side of the offensive zone, giving him enough space to rifle the shot by Berini, putting a bow on the fifth all-time win against the Falcons and second consecutive shutout win that the Warriors have had.
Only two non-conference matches remain on the docket for Eastern Connecticut, one of which will be their next match when they head to Hartford, Connecticut, to face Trinity College on Wednesday at 6:00 PM. This is only the second matchup between the two teams since 2019, as last season, the Bantams snapped a two-game losing streak to the Warriors with a 3-0 shutout win at Rick McCarthy Field.
