The Eastern University field hockey team hosted Alvernia University on Thursday afternoon. The two PAC rivals matched up for the first time as non-conference opponents, and the match was worth the hype. After falling behind early, Eastern battled back to capture a 3-2 victory in the "Play for the Cure" contest.

Alvernia scored first, nineteen minutes into the first half as Janelle Lynch found the back of the cage off of a corner. Lauren Guido and Samantha Landis picked up assists. Roughly four minutes later, Eastern would knock in the equalizer. The Eagles forced a corner with 10:45 left to play in the first half. Yvonne Herbster found Kim Campbell at the top off the circle, but the seniors first shot was deflected by Crusader goalie, Abby Eby. Campbell proceeded to follow her own shot and rifle the deflection into the left side of the cage. The match remained deadlocked at one goal a piece for the rest of the first half.

The Crusaders pushed the Eagles back on their heels after halftime, forcing back to back penalty corners ten minutes into the second period. The second would pay off for Alvernia as Guido picked up her second assist of the match by finding Ashley Tatangelo who lofted the ball over the Eagles defense and the outstretched arms of goal keeper, Laura Ressler for a 2-1 lead.

Eastern would not quit, forcing five corners of their own. Olivia Derr notched the equalizer after the Alvernia defense was unable to clear a circle crossing pass by Lindsay Moyer. Derr was able to sink just below the Crusaders back line and tapped the pass into the left side of the cage for a 2-2 score.

Twelve minutes later, Herbster notched the game winner off of a penalty corner. The sophomore from Middleburg, Pa. started the play, finding Campbell at the top of the circle for the entry pass. Campbell had enough time to read the defense and quickly pushed the ball back down to the left and found the awaiting stick of Herbster who promptly drove the ball in, giving Eastern a 3-2 lead.

"Our girls really stepped up today," said head coach Camrin Azzarano. "The teams enthusiasm was apparent throughout the entire match. They were excited to play for the breast cancer awareness cause, and showed tremendous effort in fighting from behind."

Eastern returns to Freedom Conference action on Saturday as a part of the 2009 Eastern University Homecoming athletics schedule with an 11:00 AM matchup against Manhattanville.