The Eastern-Cabrini rivalry creates games that can either way every year. This year, the Eastern University women's soccer team scored five goals with a favorable first half wind to make certain that the match did not go the wrong way. They finished their unbeaten run in the PAC regular season with a 7-1 home win.
Despite struggling to possess in the early minutes of the match, the Eagles held things together in the back, and created their first goal in the seventh minute on a nice transition out of the midfield. Sophomore Lauren Roe picked up a ball near the half line and played an early ball into her roommate Jill DiRenzo. DiRenzo tucked the ball home for her nineteenth of the season. With the goal against Cabrini, the sophomore scored at least one goal against each PAC team this season.
In the fifteenth minute, Ashley Hackman threaded a ball into DiRenzo in the box. DiRenzo took one touch toward the goal and was immediately dropped by a sliding defender. Kara Neef stepped up and calmly finished her sixth goal of the year on the penalty. DiRenzo struck again in the 20th minute on a ball from Corie Brant. A quick turn on the entry ball put the sophomore in front of the goal for her twentieth of the year.
Ashley Hackman finished a strong run at goal with a composed finish to the corner for her first of the match and seventh of the year in the 29th minute of the match. Coach Mouw said of Hackman's goal, "It was good to see Ash take that run at the goal. She is a great passer, and we have been talking with her about not giving people the chance to step back and try to take away her passing opportunities."
In the 38th minute of the match, Kate Weber, who had replaced DiRenzo, finished a goal-of-the-year candidate with an overhead kick six yards out off a cross from Kristin Watson. Watson drove a hard cross slightly behind Weber on the near post, and the first year forward reached back and popped the ball into the top of the net while falling backwards. The goal was Weber's second of the season.
The Eagles only took 11 shots in the first half, but did a good job putting shots on frame for five finishes.
Cabrini's standout striker Sabina DeGisi cut into the Eastern lead with a breakaway goal in the 52nd minute. Hackman scored her second of the game on a quality serve from Brant in the 58th minute to lift the Eagles to a 6-1 advantage. Nicole Grindle buried her ninth goal of the year in the 82nd minute on a ball played behind the Cabrini back line by Lauren Roe. Amanda Daveler played the first half in goal for the Eagles and made two saves; Amber Cummins made a save in the second half.
The Eagles finish the PAC regular season 10-0 with a 53-6 goal differential on the year. With the first seed in the playoffs, the Eagles will earn a first round bye and await results from the quarterfinal games to determine the opponent. Eastern will play a pair of important regional games next week as they host York College on Monday and Moravian on Wednesday.
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