BOSTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Allie Crawford (Kingston, Mass.) played perhaps the best game of her illustrious college career to lead women's soccer to a 4-1 win over Castleton University in the semi-final round of the 2021 Little East Conference Tournament Thursday evening at James Cotter Field.

THE BASICS

#2 UMass Boston 4, #3 Castleton University 1

UMass Boston (13-5-2)
Castleton University (8-6-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED

With Thursday's win, the Beacons advance to their program record third-straight Little East Conference championship match. Saturday's title game will be played in Danbury, CT against the top-seeded WestConn in a rematch of the 2019 and 2018 championship matches.

The Beacons enter Saturday's contest as the defending champion after defeating WestConn 4-0 at James Cotter Field.

Crawford wasted no time giving the Beacons the advantage as she scored an unassisted goal in the third minute. That lone goal would stand for the remainder of the first half, despite the Beacons outshooting the Spartans 15-3.
After the break, Crawford would strike early once again netting her second of the night in the 50^th minute. 

Grace McGettrick (Marshfield, Mass.) made it a three-goal affair in the 60^th minute, as she scored her first goal since September 13. Despite trailing by three, Castleton's Julia Carone made things a little bit tighter as she ended the shutout bid a minute after McGettrick's goal.

The Beacons sealed their ticket to the title game with a goal from McGettrick in the 78^th minute, with Crawford assisting on the play to cap-off a five-point match.

Maria Spylios (Leominster, Mass.) registered four saves to earn her second straight LEC semi-final win in her career.

Alex Benfatti made an impressive eight stops in her final match of the 2021 season.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston is now 4-3-2 in LEC semi-final matches
• The Beacons outshot the Spartans 26-7, 13-5 in shots on goal
• UMB held a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks
• Crawford's five points was the most for the senior since October 22, 2019 when she had two goals and three assists for seven points in the 5-0 win over Framingham State
• The Beacons are now 6-0 against Castleton all-time and are 2-0 in LEC Tournament play
• UMass Boston extended their home unbeaten streak to 23 straight games (21-0-2)

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will travel to WestConn on Saturday for a 12 p.m. championship match.  The winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.