Prior to the first game of the 2007 season, junior co-captain Heidi Peachey challenged her teammates to "make history." The Eastern University women's soccer team put together an unbeaten run through the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference regular season and post-season on the way to a program-best 19 wins. On the year, the Eagles scored 81 goals and gave up just 16 while advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in their first visit to the dance. On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles ran into another squad with historical intentions in the the two-time National runner-up, unbeaten, and 3rd ranked TCNJ squad. The host Lions scored twice in the first half to secure a 2-0 win and advance to the Sweet 16.
The Eagles started the match without Peachey who went down to injury in Saturday's win over Salisbury University. After a quick foray into the TCNJ zone and an Eastern corner kick, the Lions were able to clear their zone and create early chances with consecutive corners in the sixth minute. TCNJ took the lead on the second corner on a goal by Kristen Cubicciotti.
Eastern held fast in front of Amanda Daveler, who finished the match with 13 saves, until the 32nd minute of the match. Briann McDonough received a pinpoint pass from Dana DiBruno and found side netting to double the Lions advantage. "The second goal," said Coach Mouw, "was really tough on us emotionally. Playing without Heidi on the second day in a row against a team of this caliber, we knew it was going to be a tough challenge. When they scored the second one, we knew that our task had just increased in difficulty by several orders of magnitude."
The Lions held the lead through the last hour of the game to advance. The loss is the first suffered by the Eagles since they lost in overtime to #2 ranked Messiah on October 9th. After starting the year 3-2, the Eagles won 16 of their final 18 games. Coach Mouw said of the late season run, "I am very proud of the way we competed through this entire season, and I feel that we are making big strides as a program. We ran into an outstanding team this afternoon, and we were unable to unlock their backs for a goal. They are going to be a very difficult match for any of the remaining teams."
With the entire core of the Eastern team expected to return for 2008, the Eagles hope to add to the historical success of the 2007 campaign.Â
