BOSTON, Mass. - Junior
Kadin Talho (Waterbury, Conn.) scored the game's only goal in the seventh minute and sophomore
Zachary Benson (Milford, Conn.) posted a shutout with eight saves to lead the visiting Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 1-0 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Boston Beacons in the Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Soccer Championship Finals this afternoon at James Cotter Field. WestConn improves to 15-4-3 with its fourth win in a row and captures the Little East title for fifth time and the first time since 2018. The No. 3-seeded Wolves will earn the conference's automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament when that field is announced on Monday. The top-seeded Beacons drops to 13-6-2.
Talho gave the Wolves the lead early, converting on a corner kick by junior midfielder
Daniel Russo (Trumbull, Conn.). WestConn was the more aggressive offense throughout the first half, outshooting the Beacons, 10-2, over the first 45 minutes and forcing UMass-Boston goalie Qaim El-Ashkar to make three saves including two in the final five minutes before the break by Wolves' junior
Marcus Mason (South River, N.J.) and freshman
Enzo LaGrassa-Gillette (North Bay Village, Fla.). Benson was untested in the first half but made all eight of his stops in the second frame to preserve the win for the visitors. WestConn junior
Gustavo Medina (Naugatuck, Conn.) recorded the lone shot-on-goal of the second half, forcing El-Ashkar to make his final save in the last minute of play.
WestConn avenges a 2-1 loss at UMass-Boston during the regular season and the result from the 2022 campaign when the Beacons edged the Wolves on penalty kicks in the Little East Championship Finals to prevent WestConn from winning the league title despite not losing a game the entire season (20-0-2). Talho was named the Little East Championship Tournament MVP having also scored twice and assisting on a third goal in WestConn's 3-1 victory at Keene State in the semifinals on Thursday.
'These guys played a complete gae from beginning to end in every way and they deserve all the credit," said WestConn Head Coach
Joe Mingachos, who also collected his 400th win as head coach of WestConn's men's and women's soccer teams today. "They worked hard all season, overcame tons of obstacles, and I am so happy for them."