Eastern Connecticut Blanks Fitchburg State, 4-0

Hanratty stops four in Falcons third loss of the season

MANSFIELD, Conn. (September 7, 2011) –  Eastern Connecticut State University, ranked No.9 in the first NSCAA New England poll, posted its eight straight victory over Fitchburg State, defeating the Falcons 4-0 at Mansfield Complex this evening.

Matt Furman (Montville, Conn./Montville) sparked the Eastern Connecticut offense, posting his first two goals of the season, while Carl Appel (West Windsor, N.J.) and Jordan Munsell (Waterford, Conn.) needed only one save each to combine on the team's second shutout of the year.

The Warriors posted a pair of goals in each half to earn their second victory of the season. Furman put Eastern Connecticut State on the board first with a low shot lining blast just two minutes into the game, while Kyle Surprenant (Coventry, Conn.) was credited with the second goal of the game after serving a shot into the box and deflecting it off a Fitchburg State player.

In the second half, Matt Esposito gave Eastern a three goal advantage, one-timing a Tobler end-line pass to the back of the net in the 55th minute, while Furman converted feeds from Esposito and Tobler five minutes later to round out the Warrior scoring.

Eastern Connecticut used a 19-5 advantage in shots throughout the contest to control the flow of the game, while Fitchburg State held a slim 7-6 advantage in corner kicks. Falcons freshman keeper Aidan Hanratty (East Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater) made four saves despite the loss.

Fitchburg State (0-3, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action on Saturday as it hosts UMass Dartmouth at 2 p.m. Eastern Connecticut State (2-1, 0-0 LEC) hosts Ramapo College on Saturday at 2 p.m.