Senior goalie Zach Rivest made 17 saves, and the Eastern University men's lacrosse team beat Manhattanville College 7-2 in an important MAC road game. Ben O'Donnell and Michael Ryan each scored a pair of goals, and Nick Mandia had a goal and two assists.

The Eagles fell behind by a goal in the first five minutes, but Coach Childs' crew turned the tide with an O'Donnell goal from Mandia four and a half minutes later. The Valiants had more of the ball in the opening period, but the hosts could not convert their 8-3 shot advantage into a lead as the first period ended level at one.

The Eagles broke the game open with three straight goals in the second period. Ryan opened the run three and a half minutes in with a left-handed rocket from nine yards out. Ryan set up Mandia for Eastern's third goal of the game with just over two minutes left in the half. Mandia, who is ranked nationally in points and assists per game, made a quick catch on the crease and beat the keeper for his team-best 22nd goal of the year.

Ryan finished the scoring in the half off a pass from Pat Dempsey. The Eagles took a 4-1 lead into the break, but Rivest made seven saves in the second period to keep the Valiants off the board. Coach Childs said of his senior goalie, "It was the best game I've seen him play. He made several really good saves, but he was really solid and confident all day."

Eastern extended their advantage to 6-1 with two more goals in the third period. Mandia set up O'Donnell early in the period, and Pat Dempsey scored his third of the year three minutes later. Manhattanville was finally able to slip a second shot past Rivest with 6:20 remaining in the game on a man-up goal from Vinny Menzenski. The Eagles played a disciplined game, and were only whistled for four penalties.

Childs pointed to the play of his defensive unit as a key for the afternoon's win. "Dan Sharbaugh and Paulie [Macerino] played really well, and Matt Mandia was his usual steady self. Nick is on offense, so he gets a lot of attention, but Matt is just as good at what he does."

Matt Wagner dropped in his 13th goal of his rookie campaign on a pass from Matt Colello to close out the scoring. With the win, the Eagles pick up an important win in the MAC Playoff race. The Eagles travel to Misericordia University for a game against their former PAC rivals on Saturday.

Box Score