Over the past week, the Eastern University women's lacrosse team has been in the habit of jumping out to first half leads. The Eagles continued that trend when they jumped to a 7-2 lead at Neumann. They then had to work to hold off a charge from the host Knights to emerge with a 14-9 win and a first round bye in the PAC Playoffs.

Katie Choquette registered a six point day for the Eagles. The junior from Rhode Island picked up a career-best three assists to go with three goals. Erin Fries scored four times, and last week's PAC Player of the Week Grace Griffith scored three times and chipped in with three assists. 

The game, rescheduled from earlier in the semester, started with the Eagles taking a 3-0 lead on goals from Erin Reimel, Choquette. After the Knights answered with a  single tally, Katie Maguire finished a pass from Remiel to give the Eagles a three-goal cushion midway through the opening half.

Neumann's Colleen Finnegan answered Maguire's tally with her second of the day. The Eagles finished the half with three straight on a single goal from Maguire and a pair from Griffith.  The Eagles out-shot the Knights 20-4 in the opening period and 37-18 for the game.

Both team's scored seven goals in the second half. The Eastern lead never shrunk below three goals or became greater than seven as coach Azzarano's squad secured the second seed in the PAC playoffs. The win gives the Eagles, who finish their regular season with a game against Immaculata tomorrow, this Saturday off. The Semifinal game will be against a to-be-determined opponent on Tuesday the 29th or Wednesday the 30th. If Eastern's men's lacrosse team wins Wednesday at Immaculata or Saturday against Misericordia, they will sew up the second seed in the Men's Tournament and will play at Eastern on Wednesday. In that situation, the women's game would be on Tuesday.

Tomorrow's regular season finale is scheduled for 4:00 pm.

Box Score