BOSTON, Mass. - UMass Boston Men's Soccer secured the Little East Conference regular season championship and the top overall seed in the conference tournament on Saturday afternoon, handily defeating Eastern Connecticut State University 4-1.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 4, Eastern Connecticut State University 1

UMass Boston (12-4-2, 6-1-1 LEC)
Eastern Connecticut State University (6-6-4, 3-4-1 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The visiting Warriors were the first to strike on Saturday afternoon, capitalizing on a gift penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

The Beacons' offensive attack got things started just over 30 minutes into the opening half. The team's top two point scorers connected, giving Ryan Lima his 11th goal of the season, Gabriel Meireles his seventh assist, and the match a tied score.

Minutes later, Lima went right back to work, cashing in on John Arruda's fifth assist of the year for his second goal of the afternoon. The Beacons took the 2-1 advantage into the halftime break.

The second half was quiet for both sides until the 73rd minute when Diego Gisholt found the back of the net to extend the lead to 3-1. The scoring once again came in two for the Beacons as Lima converted on a penalty kick to secure the hat trick and put the game away.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Saturday marked the second multi-goal game and first hat trick of Lima's career
• The regular season championship is the Beacons' first since 2016 and the third of head coach Jake Beverlin's tenure
• Lima and Meireles are tied for the LEC lead in goals with 13 apiece
• Lima, Meireles, and Arruda all rank among the top six point scorers in the LEC
• In the final regular season home game of his career, goalie Qasim El-Ashkar saved all six non-penalty shots he faced, lowering the team's goals against average to 1.33 on the season
• The Beacons have won three straight matchups with Eastern Connecticut, improving their record in the all-time series to 10-25-2

WHO'S NEXT
As the top overall seed in the LEC tournament, the Beacons will enjoy a bye before their second round opponent is determined next Tuesday.