Eastern Men's Soccer needed late heroics to claim a 3-2 win over the host Rutgers-Camden Raptors and win the Cialella Soccer Classic. The Eagles (2-1) built a 2-0 halftime lead, butbRutgers-Camden (2-3) scored a pair of second-half goals in a 1:34 to tie the game, but Dann DeLorenzo provided the game-winning goal on a brilliant left-footed volley from 20 yards out on the left side of the net. His shot, a bullet into the far corner, came at 74:38.
Following that shot, the Raptors had several chances to tie the game, but the Eagle back line and Noah Bartelt stood tall. The senior goalkeeper stopped a penalty kick with 8:42 remaining. With seconds remaining Matt Snavely covered Bartelt's back and headed a ball off the goalline to preserve the win.
The Eagles used first-half goals by Taylor VanBrackle and Mike Leitzel to take a seemingly safe 2-0 halftime lead. VanBrackle scored on a 30-yard bomb off an assist from Ben Faro at 37:03, and Leitzel drilled in a 25-yard shot off a restart, assisted by Aaron Tritch at 40:50. The Eastern coaching staff singled out the play of Faro as a real bright spot for the game. "Ben came in for us and made things happen. He made a great contribution tonight." VanBrackle's goal, his first of the year, was also an encouraging thing for the coaching staff. The Eastern offense, which had struggled in the team's first two games, started to find VanBrackle with more regularity, and the 2006 All Mid-Atlantic performer drilled a shot into a very tight window in the upper corner.
Rutgers-Camden cut the gap in half at 66:48 when Ono scored near the goal line on a diving header, assisted by Amato. Moments later, Rob Gambino tied the game at 68:22, tipping in a restart by Onur Yilmaz that was sent into the box.
Rutgers-Camden finished with an 18-14 advantage in shots, with including a 12-5 margin in the second half. The Raptors held an 8-3 margin in corner kicks.
DeLorenzo's brilliant volley was his second game-winner in two days and earned him offensive MVP honors at the Cialella Classic. Head coach Mark Wagner said of his freshman forward, "We knew that he was going to be an influential player in our program, but this is a very bright spot for us to have him make such a substantial contribution early."
Bartelt made six saves and was aided by the back save en route to his second win in the Cialella Soccer Classic. The Raptor's Brent Grunow and Greg Faust made five saves and one save, respectively.
The Eagles return to action Wednesday afternoon with a home game against Misericordia University.
