it came as no surprise that today's game between Eagle Road rivals carried with it great intensity and emotion. The Cavaliers took a big step towrard the top seed in the PAC tournament as they jumped to 7-2 lead early in the second half and held off an Eastern charge to escape with an 8-6 win.

When Eastern's Courtney Brennan started the scoring in the second minute of the game on her first goal of the year, it looked as though the game might turn into a shootout. Nothing could have been further from the truth as both goalies played very well, and the game was marked by many fouls and tough checking. 

Erin Nollen scored the next two goals of the game in the fourth and eighth minutes to give the Cavaliers a 2-1 edge. The scoring stopped until the ninteenth minute when the Eagles were finally able to slip a second shot past Cabrini goalie Kate Schmid. Erin Reimel took a feed from Jessie basch behind the goal and tucked it just under the crossbar for her sixth of the year. 

Jamie O'Hanlon finished a transition goal for Cabrini with six minutes to play to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead at the break. Schmid finished the first half with nine saves. Neither team was able to convert on their free position attempts as both goalies stood tall.

Eastern controlled all six draws in the first half, but Cabrini took possession early in the second half and scored four goals int he first ten minutes to seize a 7-2 lead. It looked as though the Cavaliers might cruise to the finish with a five goal lead and 21 minutes to play, but the Eagles began to chip away.

Grace Griffith gave the Eastern team their first glimmer of hope when she buried a Jessie Basch pass with just over eleven minutes to play. Basch then took the responsibility for the next goal with a great solo effort to close the gap to 7-4 with 9:30 to play.

Basch then pulled the ensuing draw all the way over the Cabrini defense and onto the stick of Katie Choquette who was in alone on Schmid. The Cabrini keeper then made the save of the game with a lunging stop of a low shot to keep the Cavalier advantage at three.  The Eagles continued to work for opportunities and capitalized with 6:51 on the clock after Liza O'Keefe picked up a loose ball thirty yards out and drove central. O'Keefe drew a pair of defenders to herself and slipped a pass in front of the cage to Reimel who buried her seventh of the year to pull the Eagles within two.

Amanda Alexandrowiz scored her third of the day out of the Cabrini delay to give the visitors an 8-5 lead that they would hold for 14 seconds. Choquette finished a Griffith pass of the ensuing draw, but the Eagles were unable to earn possession again and the Cavaliers escaped with a two goal win.

Schmid finished the game with 17 saves. Kim Campbell played a very solid game between the pipes for the Eagles with 15 saves. 

In each of the past two seasons, the Eagles have had to win a PAC Champinship on the other side of Eagle Road. If the Eagles hope to retun to the NCAA Tournament for a third year in a row, it looks as though they will again have to win at Cabrini.  

The Eagles (1-2, 1-1) return to action Thursday with a non-league game against Widener University. 

Box Score