The top-seeded Eastern University women's soccer team used three goals in each half to beat Cabrini and advance to their first PAC Championship game in six years. Ashley Hackman led the way for the Eagles with two goals and a pair of assists.
Cabrini put up stiff resistance in the early part of the game, and the Eagles struggled to put their early shots on frame. It looked as though the Eagles were going to break through in the 17th minute on a breakaway attempt from Hackman. She was ruled to have gained an advantage with a push and the game remained knotted at zero.
Hackman helped to unlock the Cabrini back-line in the 27th minute when she slipped a pass into the danger zone for Jill DiRenzo. The sophomore made good use of the pass and slid the ball into the lower left corner of the net for her team-best 22nd goal of the year. Hackman earned her 20th assist of the season with the pass.
Three minutes later, Eastern doubled the advantage on a restart. Liza O'Keefe lifted a ball from midfield onto DiRenzo's head. DiRenzo flicked the ball into Hackman's run. Hackman knocked it home for her eleventh goal of the year. Hackman then iced the game in the 36th minute when she ran onto the end of a beautiful ball through the central seam from Corie Brant. Eastern out-shot their guests 11-2 on the half and 20-6 on the match.
In the fiftieth minute, the Eagles earned a corner kick, and Brant knocked a ball central that Nicole Grindle flicked in on the near post for her tenth goal of the year. Eight minutes later Hackman again found DiRenzo on the run, and the Eagles pushed the lead to 5-0. Grindle closed out the scoring when she found herself on the end of a great cross from Kristin Watson in the 84th minute.
Eastern coach Dan Mouw said of the win, "We are very pleased with the work that we put in to win today. The Semifinal has been a bit of a roadblock for us in past years, and we wanted to make sure that we moved past this mark. Jill's goal to unlock the game was huge, and it was great to get Chrissy [West] back into regular playing rotation. She looked very strong on the ball and helps us enormously in the attack."
Amanda Daveler and Amber Cummins split the shutout in goal with Cummins making one save in the second half.
Eastern (17-3) returns to action Saturday afternoon at 1:00 for the PAC Championship. The game will be webcast through the Conference website with details to be published tomorrow.
Box ScoreÂ
