A game against future MAC opponent Wilkes University stood as a tough mid-week non-league game in the middle of a five-game run of PAC games for Eastern Women's Soccer. The Eagles shook off a slow start and stormed back with three second-half goals to emerge with a 3-1 win.
The Colonels jumped to a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the match in the sixth minute. After Eastern had earned consecutive corners, Wilkes scored on a Cassandra Valentin header on a Georgina Robinson corner kick. Though the Eagles recorded six shots to the Colonels four in the opening period, the game was played primarily in the midfield. The home squad held a good amount of possession. Coach Mouw said of the first half, "They did a really good job of stretching us out and making it difficult for us to win the ball. At the half we tried to address those issues, and I feel like the players did an outstanding job of raising their work rate to the level it needed to get to for the second half."
Junior back Corie Brant scored her second of the year in the third minute of the second half to draw the Eagles level. Brant's one-time shot of a Steffie Sauder pass curled into the top right portion of the net from thirty yards out. After Brant's goal, the Eagles increased their pressure around the goal further and forced Wilkes keeper Liz Pauly to make a pair of very difficult saves on shots from in tight.
The momentum of the game swung further in the 70th minute. Kristin Watson banged home her fourth goal of the year on a cross from Ashley Hackman. The assist is the ninth of the year for Hackman. Ninety seconds later Brant made an overlapping run onto a Nicole Grindle pass and looked as though she was going to be in for her second of the game. A foul in the box stopped her, but Brant's counterpart on the right side Kara Neef stepped up and coolly finished the penalty for her third goal of the season.
Coach Mouw said of the game, "Everything we did on the field in the second half came off of our concerted effort in the midfield to pressure the ball. We were able to win more balls, keep more balls, and finish more because the players were able to solve our defensive issues of the first half. To win a game 3-1 and not have any of our top three scorers pick up a goal is a very good thing for our team.
The win moves the Eagles to 6-2 on the year going into a stretch of three conference games in the next seven days. On Saturday at noon, the Eastern women play at Gwynedd-Mercy in the first game of a soccer double-header between the two schools.
Box Score
