"We were in a little bit of an unfamiliar territory for our program."said Eastern University men's lacrosse coach John Levis, "With the home playoff game, the guys felt they were supposed to win, and we had to battle that mental challenge and Centenary for the win." Levis and his squad beat a feisty Cyclone squad 10-6 for a berth in Saturday's PAC Championship game at Cabrini College.
The visiting Cyclones earned a third seed with a tie-breaker in a three way tie for third place in the conference regular season. With the roster shortened due to injury, the visitors opened the game with a very disciplined style of play. After the Eagles took a 2-1 lead on goals from Michael Ryan and , Centenary responded with three straight to build a 4-2 lead after one period. The final goal of the frame came on a man-up opportunity.
Ryan said of Centenary's early efforts, "They really played well, they were very disciplined in the shots they took, and they seemed to close off all of our chances." In the second period, the Eastern defenders, according to Levis, did a better job of getting sticks in the passing lanes, and Eastern took advantage of the extra possessions. After Ben O'Donnell scored his first goal of the game, Ryan scored three straight goals in a three minute span to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead at the break.
Ryan's other four goal effort on the year came in a critical road win at Shenandoah. The go-ahead goal with 5:19 on the clock came on a pretty pass from Matt Colello. Ryan said of the goal "I just cut down the middle and Matt put the ball on my stick." The other two goals in his run of three were set up by passes from fellow Souderton native Nick Mandia. Mandia finished the day with two goals and two assists.
With a 9-5 advantage in shots in the second period, the Eagles held a 15-13 edge in shots at the break. Zach Rivest made four saves in the second period to help the hosts build a lead. The Eagles emerged from the locker-room with confidence for the second half.
That confidence was tested when Centenary's Nate Small scored two straight to tie the game at six. Small finished with three goals on the day. Levis said, "When the game tied at six, I wondered how our guys would respond to the pressure of being the favorite. I felt that the seventh goal was going to be a big one." That goal came compliments of junior face-off specialist Jim Caiola.
Caiola, who also goes by "Jimmy Mango," talked his way into a shift in the attack, and it paid off with an unassisted tally just 43 seconds after Small's final tally. Caiola, who has scored one goal in each of the teams last five games for his five goal output on the year said, "I begged coach to let me play offense once, and he let me and it worked out." He won 9-13 face-offs for the day with seven ground balls.
The Eagles held a 7-6 lead at the end of three, but the Cyclones would not go quietly. Zach Rivest had to make five of his twelve saves in the final fifteen minutes to help carry the Eagles to the win. Levis said of his goalie, "Zach had a great fourth quarter for us. He was a real difference-maker in a tight situation." Rivest said of his second half "I was seeing the ball better, but I also got a feel for what they were trying to do with their shots. My defense played well in front of me, and I just tried to put the goals from earlier in the game out of my mind."
After Centenary had a goal disallowed for leaving early on a penalty, O'Donnell knocked in his second of the day on a feed from Caiola. The game turned with a pair of penalties at the 11:00 minute mark. Mandia finished a man-up goal at the trail end of a two-minute penalty. Mandia then closed out the scoring in the 56th minute on another unassisted tally.
Rivest and the rest of the Eagles are looking forward to Saturday's final at Cabrini. He said, "Obviously, they are a tough match-up, and we are going to try to bring our A-game. We feel excited to have the chance to play in the league final and are really looking forward to seeing what we can do."
Today's win is the first playoff victory in the history of Eastern University Men's Lacrosse. Cabrini won in convincing fashion over fourth-seeded Marywood. Game time for Saturday is scheduled for 3:30.
