Four minutes into the second quarter, Michael Ryan scored to give the Eastern University Men's Lacrosse a 3-2 advantage and to spark a five-goal run over the visiting Cyclones of Centenary College. The Eagles leveled their record in the PAC at 1-1 with the 8-4 win. Ryan finished with three goals and Nick Mandia added two goals an an assist.
Eastern jumped to a 2-0 lead on a pair of early goals from Ryan just two minutes apart. Andrew Minnick earned his first of four assists on the day in setting up the first, and Mandia set up the second. The Cyclones cut the lead in half in the waning seconds of the first period on a goal from Kurt Shann from Rory Murray. Eastern out-shot their visitors 7-5 for the period but only forced Brian Triolo to make a single save in the opening fifteen minutes of play.
Jason Reig scored to tie the game just three minutes into the second period. The Eagles responded. Minnick set up Ryan's third of the day less than a minute later. Eastern continued to fire shots, but were unable to increase their advantage until the 28th minute of the game when Mandia fired a strong left-handed shot from 15 yards out for his ninth goal of the season. Triolo stopped six shots in the second period. Eastern goalie Zach Rivest made just one first-half save.
The game remained 4-2 until well into the third period. The Eagles broke the game open with three goals in the final five minutes of the frame. Dazve Mojica scored his first of the year off a Minnick feed. Mike Colello collected his second of the year with a powerful low shot from Nate Trunfio. Mandia then scored his tenth of the year just seconds after an Eastern timeout. With Centenary looking to extend pressure, Mandia split a double-team for an unassisted goal to give the Eagles a five goal cushion.
Eastern controlled possession for much of the final period, but could only muster a single tally from Ben O'Donnell, his 14th of the year, on a pass from Minnick. Rivest finished the day with eight saves, while Triolo made 16 saves for the visitors. The Eagles finished with a 44-25 edge in shots.
Eastern hosts Kean University in a non-conference game Saturday at 3:00 pm.
