Box Score DANBURY, CT - Sophomore midfielder Celia DeVoe scored the game-winning goal 2:37 into the second half and assisted on the Colonials two other goals as Western Connecticut State University (11-4, 4-0 Little East) defeated University of Massachusetts Boston (6-3-3, 3-1 Little East), 3-2 at The Westside Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
The match pitted the final two unbeaten teams in the Little East Conference and also served as a rematch of the 2012 Little East Conference Championship Game. With the win, Western Connecticut State has now won eight straight games and nine of its last 10, while UMass Boston falls to 0-10 all-time against the Colonials in Connecticut.
UMass Boston senior forward Krista Ledin (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored her team-leading 10th and 11th goals of the season in the losing effort. Ledin is now sitting on 93 career goals and 209 points, with seven-games to go in the regular season.
Senior Amanda Pugliese (Pembroke, Mass.) and freshman Hannah Peterson (Plymouth, Mass.) each recorded assists on Ledin's first goal of the game.
Jillian Fernandez picked up her 11th win of the season by making two stops on four shots for Western Connecticut State.
Junior goalie Kristen Spain fell to 1-3-2 as she made six saves on nine shots, in her first start since September 13.
All of Western's goals on Saturday came off of free kicks from DeVoe.
From 30 yards out, Celia found her younger sister Andrea DeVoe (Farmington, CT) in the middle of the 12-yard box and the freshman headed the ball home to get things started in the 15th minute of play.
The Beacons tied the game in the 33rd minute when Ledin put away her team-leading 10 goal of the season. She was set up by a combination of passes, starting from a corner kick from Amanda Pugliese and then served into the box from Hannah Petersen.
Exactly four minutes later at the 37:17 mark, Ledin added an unassisted goal when she tucked the ball in to the right of Fernandez.
Senior midfielder Sarah Menta (Monroe, CT), who has been hampered with a leg injury this season, finished off a free kick from Celia DeVoe with 2:43 remaining before intermission to tie the game at 2-2.
DeVoe's game-winner, again off a set piece, this time from 40 yards away, sailed over the outstretched mitt of Spain and into the back of the net. It was her third game-winning goal of the season.
UMass Boston travels to Endicott College for a non-conference tilt on Tuesday at 7 p.m
INFORMATION IN THIS RELEASE COURTERSY OF WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
