Eastern University Men's Soccer earned an important 1-0 win over Alvernia in front of a big Homecoming crowd Saturday afternoon.
The last three meetings between Eastern and Alvernia have gone without a resolution in regulation or overtime. While the Eagles controlled much of the play in the opening half, the visiting Crusaders seemed to always step up at the last minute to keep Eagles from pushing a ball past the Alvernia keeper. Brian Raffle hit a ball off the crossbar in the 11th minute, but the Eagles could only convert their six first half corner kicks into five shots.
The visiting Crusaders put two of their three shots on goal and Eastern starter Noah Bartelt was up to the task for both saves. Like the last two PAC Semi-final matches between the two teams, the game went to the half without a score. In a repeat of the storyline from the women's game earlier in the day, the Eagles finally broke through in the 70th minute. Senior wing Lance Burris beat his defender with a strong run on the right flank and earned the end-line with a dribble toward the near post. Patrick timed his run well and slammed home his second game-winner in the last ten days.
The Crusaders had their best chance of the day only moments later on an Eastern defensive miscue. Junior goalkeeper Michael Dorsch had to sprawl back toward the right upright and push a ball out for a corner on a miscommunication on a bouncing ball in the Eastern defensive zone. The Eagles quickly regrouped to defend the corner and limit the Crusaders from further chances.
Burris looked as though he was going to double the advantage in the 77th minute on a left-footed shot from the right side that hit the underside of the crossbar. The Eagles maintained possession deep in the Alvernia zone to end the contest.
Coach Wagner said of his team's performance, "We really struggled with our timing in the final third. We got a goal to earn the result, which in an Eastern-Alvernia game seems to be a rare thing, but we need to continue to improve our discipline in and around the box."
Eastern returns to action Wednesday for a 4:00 pm game with playoff implications against Immaculata University. Next Saturday the Eagles play at Cabrini in another important game for seeding.
