In less than ideal conditions, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse picked up a non-league win over the visiting Captains of Christopher Newport University. After the torrential rains of Saturday and Sunday turned to snow, the game looked to be in question again. The Eastern grounds crew were able to get the two inches of slushy wet snow off of Olson field, and the Eagles bounced back from Saturday's tough loss with an 11-8 win over their visitors from Virginia Beach.
Coming into the game, the Eastern coaches knew that the cold would play a factor, and that defensive intensity would be especially critical on a day when the surface was slick. The Eagles executed well enough at the offensive end, and were able to slow down CNU's top scorers to earn the win.
After the game, Head Coach John Levis pointed out the play of first year midfielder Michael Hofmeister, who effectively neutralized the Captains' leading scorer by keeping the ball out of his stick for the majority of the game. Levis said, "Michael has been huge for us. We count on his effort at the defensive end, and know that he will give us an effort that will give us a chance to win. Zach also played very well with 10 second half saves."
The Eagles jumped to an early lead when Kyle Dresser fed Chris Franklin in front of the cage. The senior leader buried his first career goal with 11:10 left in the opening quarter. Christopher Newport struck back four minutes later when Ryan Merrell scored his 23rd goal of the year.
The Eagles never relinquished the lead in the game and jumped back up 2-1 with five minutes left in the opening period on a Dresser goal from Andrew Minnick. Logan Keyser opened the scoring in the second period with the first of his five goals on the afternoon. Michael Ryan then scored two straight for the Eagles just thirty seconds apart on passes from Nick Mandia and Dresser. Thirty seconds later, Keyser closed the gap to 4-3 with an unassisted tally with 11:01 on the clock.
Pat Dempsey scored on a brilliant individual effort to lift the Eagles to a 5-3 lead, but Keyser answered with 8:32 remaining in the half to make the score 5-4. Neither team could generate any offense for the remainder of the half, as both teams struggled with ball control as sticks became wet and bodies became cold.
Out of the half, the Captains tied the game at five on a man-up goal from Michael Turk with eight and a half minutes to play. Ryan answered with his third strike of the afternoon on a quick counterattacking goal from Dempsey.
Up 6-5 at the start of the fourth, the Eagles committed to winning the final quarter rather than trying to hold on to a one goal lead, and Dresser tucked home his second of the afternoon less than three minutes in. Just twenty seconds later, Ben O'Donnell scored his first of the afternoon off a Nate Trunfio feed to give the Eagles an 8-5 advantage.
It looked like the Eagles had put the game on ice when O'Donnell scored at the 9:18 mark to give the Eagles a 9-5 lead, but the visitors won the ensuing face-off and Merrell hit Logan in front of the cage to trim the Eastern advantage to 9-6. With six minutes to play Merrell again found Keyser to chop the Eastern lead to 9-7.
After losing a tough game in the fourth quarter on Saturday, Eastern needed someone to step up and make a play to change momentum. Sophomore face-off man Jimmy Caiola did just that, as he won the face-off and stormed up the gut of the Captain defense. Bouncing off players the entire way, Caiola bounced an overhand shot into the cage to bump the lead back to three.
The Captains put together one more charge with a man-down goal with 2:39 left, but Mandia took advantage of an isolation with a minute and a half to play to give the Eagles a hard-fought 11-8 win.
Eastern returns to action Wednesday afternoon at Alvernia in a game with playoff implications.
