MANSFIELD, Conn. - Jesse Schulze won 12 of 15 face-offs to lead Eastern Connecticut State University to an 8-4 Little East Conference victory over lacrosse Tuesday afternoon at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 4, Eastern Connecticut State University 8

UMass Boston (11-5, 3-3 Little East Conference)
Eastern Connecticut State U. (9-5, 5-1 Little East Conference)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Beacons, who went into the contest averaging 40 shots per game, were held to just 26 on the night.  The Warriors controlled the pace throughout the contest, and forced 17 caused turnovers in the conference victory, as they remain one-game out of first place.

The Warriors scored the first two goals of the contest, but were held to just one tally through the first 15 minutes of play. Calvin Lee (Hopkinton, Mass.) knotted the score at 2-2 after recording back-to-back goals over a three minute span.  Liam Murphy netted the final goal of the first half to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead going into the break.

After a two goal third by the Warriors, the Beacons cut the deficit to one as Matthew Duggan and Lee scored back-to-back goals.  Eastern junior attack Shawn Tierney applied a dagger with his only goal of the match on an assist from sophomore midfielder Harrison Urda (Milford, NH) with nine minutes left.

Schulze and UMB senior midfielder Phil Truong (Quincy, Mass.) entered the match with identical faceoff winning percentages (.535), but Schulze won the battle at the faceoff X. Schulze won 12 of 15 against two Boston faceoff opponents, including all seven in the first half. Schulze has been successful on 75.0 percent (36-of-48) of his face-offs over the last three games.

Eastern senior goalie Blake Smaldone and Craig Frehill (Norwell, Mass.) entered play ranked 1-2 in the LEC in both goals-against average and save percentage, Smaldone made nine of his 11 saves in the second half, allowing only two goals over the final 30 minutes.  Frehill kept the Beacons close by stopping 18 shots, which marked a season-high for the senior.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Eastern Connecticut led the contest in ground balls 28-18
• The Beacons were 1-for-4 on man-up opportunities
• With the loss the Beacons now sit in fourth place in the conference with one game left in the regular season

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons return to action on Friday when they host Southern Maine at 7 p.m. on senior day.