DANBURY, Conn. - The top-seeded and 21st-ranked Western Connecticut State University men's soccer squad outlasted fifth-seeded Rhode Island College, 2-0, in the Little East Conference Championship Tournament semifinals on Thursday night at the Westside Athletic Complex.
With the win, the Wolves improved to 20-0-1 overall while the Anchormen's season came to an end at 4-8-4.Â
WestConn will host second-seeded UMass Boston in the LEC Championship game slated for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Beacons rallied to upend third-seeded and defending champion Eastern Connecticut, 4-3, in the other semifinal matchup.Â
The Wolves drew first blood just under 20 minutes into the contest when speedy rookie forward
Erik Lorent (Shelton, Conn.) netted his eight goal of the season assisted from junior midfielder
Kent Eannarino (Brookfield, Conn.).Â
They would hold the 1-0 lead at halftime before things got chippy in the second half.Â
The hosts tacked on an insurance tally at 64:45 when senior midfielder
Eduardo Vargas (Norwalk, Conn.) took a pass from classmate
Payton Blynn (New Milford, Conn.) and buried his first goal of the season on a shot fired just inside the left post from 15 yards out.
Rookie goalkeeper
Zachary Benson (Milford, Conn.) earned the win for the Wolves en route to a six save performance, while Jake Reed took the loss for RIC and finished with three stops.
After falling in last year's title game, WestConn gets another shot at its first LEC championship since 2018 when they host the Beacons on Saturday.
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