VILLANOVA, Pa. - Eastern Men's Lacrosse claimed its fifth straight MAC Freedom Championship on Saturday night defeating Misericordia 13-7. The Eagles used a five-goal third quarter to take control of the game.

"This is about the kids and reflects how hard they have worked all season," said Head Coach Kevin Wallace. "They know what the expectations are when they commit here and that we expect to win. I think it says a lot about the school as well which continues to give us the resources and support be a successful program."   

Eastern (14-5) and the Cougars (10-7) battled back and forth throughout the first half with the Eagles taking a slim 5-4 lead into the locker room. From the third quarter on, it was all Eastern. The Eagles outscored Misericordia five to one  in the third quarter and eight to three in the second half to capture their fifth championship.

Bryan Goetz paced the Eastern attack with four goals. The junior midfielder earned championship Championship MVP honors for his performance. Desmond Decker tallied his 100th career point on an assist in the fourth quarter to become the second player during this current playoff run to reach that milestone.  Decker, who graduated earlier in the day, finished with two goals and two assists. Jameal Hadeed was solid in net for the Eagles totaling 15 saves on 37 shots.

"He [Goetz] is a game changer, and you saw that tonight," continued Wallace. "Bryan is a physical force that can dominate a game. It is great to have him back healthy during this time of the season."   

Goetz opened the scoring with an unassisted goal just 49 seconds into the game. Jake Pousson and Tim Lamb would each tally first-quarter markers as well. The Cougars netted their second goal of the quarter with just over a minute play to trim the deficit to 3-2 at the first break.

Lamb had a hand in both goals of the second quarter. In just over a minute of game time, Lamb assisted Decker, who broke a 3-3 tie and then put away his second of the day to stretch the advantage to 5-3. Despite Lamb's impressive quarter, the Cougars scored late in the period and trailed only 5-4 at intermission.

The third quarter was all Eastern. The hosts opened the period with a four goal burst and outscored Misericordia 5-1. Four different players scored in the quarter. Mark Buannic led the Eagles with back-to-back goals in a span of two and a half minutes to extend the lead to 8-4. Buannic continued to add to his impressive rookie totals. He is the only Eastern player to score over 30 goals in his freshman season. After the Cougars closed the deficit to 9-5 with three minutes to play, Decker closed out the quarter with his second goal of the evening. With 19 seconds on the clock, he finished a pass from Goetz for his 99th career point.

"I told the defense at halftime we had to dictate the pace of play," stated Wallace. "Offensively we were doing what we had to we just needed to finish our chances. I think both units responded well, and we came out on fire at the offensive end and played a lock down second half defensively."  

With just over 12 minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, Decker found Buannic on the crease.  Buannic put away his 34th of the season and third of the day.  Heading into the NCAA Tournament the senior midfielder has 60 goals and 40 assists in his career. Decker is the second player during the Eagles playoff run to achieve this feat the week. Lamb reached the 100 point milestone in Eastern's semifinal win over Delaware Valley on May 4th.

Goetz weaved through three Misericordia defenders for his fourth goal of the day to stretch the Eastern lead to 13-5 with over five minutes left to play. Misericordiascored two late goals to close the final margin to six. It is the ninth consecutie game against a MAC Freedom opponent that the Eastern defense has held its opponent to seven goals or fewer.

"This is a great win but we know there is still more to do. We played a tough schedule this season to prepare us for the next challenge," concluded Wallace. "We learned a lot from the top ranked teams we played, and we will be ready for whoever we play next."

Eastern will now await to find out who they will be seeded against in the upcoming NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament. The selection show is on Sunday, May 8th at 9 pm.