WILLIMANTIC, Conn.—Despite Denis Martinez's (Chelsea, Mass.) first goal of the season, #4/8 UMass Boston men's soccer couldn't overcome a two-goal deficit in their first loss of the season Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS

Eastern Connecticut State University 2, #4/8 UMass Boston 1

(UMass Boston 12-1-1, Little East 4-1-0)

(Eastern Connecticut State 5-7-1, Little East 3-2-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Justin Jensen and Dimi Dalardha each scored in the first half for the Warriors, who handed the Beacons their first conference loss by an identical 2-1 score last year.

Warriors sophomore goalie Ryan Murphy stopped seven of eight shots to help Eastern Connecticut State snap a two-game conference losing streak.

Martinez recorded his first collegiate goal with less than five minutes left in the contest. Classmate Mohamed Kenawy (Revere, Mass.) and Joshua Khang (Brockton, Mass.) each picked up assists on the play.

Freshman goalie Omar Castro-Dreher (Woonsocket, R.I.) picked up his first collegiate loss in the contest. The freshman goalie stopped three of the five shots he faced.

Eastern opened the scoring at 20:42 on their second shot of the contest. Xavier Doran fed Jensen and he blasted home from the left side of the 18-yard box.

The Warriors doubled their lead just over 15-minutes later, when Dalardha collected a loose ball off a corner kick and slotted home at 36:32. 

UMass Boston picked up their play and dominated the chances in the second half but struggled to break through against Murphy and the Warriors.

Martinez finally got the Beacons on the board at 85:15, when his shot deflected off a player in front and beat Murphy.

The Beacons would record one final shot, but senior Edmilson Barros' (Praia, Cape Verde) effort went wide.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston outshot the Warriors 23-8 and earned an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. The Beacons also recorded a 10-4 edge in corner kicks.
• Barros and Kenawy both recorded a team-high four shots for the Beacons.
• In the second half of the contest, UMass Boston outshot the Warriors 11-2 and registered all seven of the corner kicks.
• Eastern Connecticut State improved to 23-6-1 all-time against the Beacons.
• UMass Boston saw their program-record 13-match unbeaten streak snapped with the loss. The streak also was a school-record to start a season.

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will finish off their three-game road trip on Wednesday night, when the Beacons travel to MIT for a 7 p.m. start.