Box Score
BOSTON, Mass.—Four different Beacons scored and UMass Boston women's soccer (5-2-3, 3-0 Little East) dominated from the opening whistle in a 4-1 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University (5-5-1, 1-2 Little East) Saturday morning at the Clark Athletic Center Field.
In a rematch of the 2013 Little East Conference Semifinals, UMass Boston avenged their season-ending loss to the Warriors, behind three goals in the first 12:48.
Kara Peters (Agawam, Mass.), Ericka Garufi (Milton, Mass.) and Amanda Pugliese (Pembroke, Mass.) each scored for UMass Boston, who extended their conference, regular-season home winning streak to nine in a row. UMass Boston has outscored their opponents 39-2 during that span, including 7-1 in two Little East contests this season.
Peters led the way for UMass Boston with a goal and an assist, while senior forward Krista Ledin (Bridgewater, Mass.) moved to within a point of 200 for her career, with a pair of assists. Freshman Marina Kelly (Whitman, Mass.) recorded her first conference goal as a collegiate player, to wrap up the scoring for UMass Boston.
In net, senior Dani Perkins (Murrieta, Calif.) became just the second Beacon in program history to reach 20 victories. The senior co-captain stopped four of the five shots she faced on the afternoon.
After pulling half of their starters with 20 minutes to play, Eastern Connecticut State got on the board with under 15 minutes to play, on a goal from Danielle Wendland.
Junior goalie Rachel Skelton stopped four of the eight shots she faced for the Warriors, who have now dropped four of their past five contests.
UMass Boston dominated possession in the contest and earned a 17-8 advantage in shots and 9-2 edge in corners.
Peters gave the Beacons' a 1-0 lead just 4:42 into the contest, when the junior midfielder chipped a shot from just outside the box to the far post and past Skelton.
The Beacons tacked on a second goal less than four minutes later, when Ledin fed Garufi and the senior midfielder sent a long arching ball across the box and under the crossbar for her third tally of the year.
Pugliese capped off the first half scoring at 12:48 off of a scramble just inside the box. Ledin fed Peters 16 yards out and Peters' shot was blasted into a defender. Off the ensuing scramble, Pugliese stepped into the ball and sent a hard line drive into the low far corner for a 3-0 UMass Boston lead.
UMass Boston put the game completely out of reach in the 64th minute off of another strong play from Peters. The junior dribbled around a Warriors defenseman and tiptoed along the goal-line, before feeding Kelly in the center of the box; Kelly blasted the shot to the far post for her second goal in as many games.
Eastern Connecticut State broke up the shutout at 76:07 off of a nice finish from Wendland. The freshman took a feed from Nikki Basilicato and lofted a shot over a charging Perkins to cut the deficit to 4-1.
With the Beacons' win Saturday, they set-up a showdown of undefeated conference teams next Saturday, when UMass Boston travels to Western Connecticut State for a 1 p.m. start. UMass Boston will host Wentworth this Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., before focusing on the Colonials.
